The L.B. Nagar Zone Special Operation Team (SOT) on Monday arrested seven individuals at a lodge for cheating while taking Duolingo Exam, an online English eligibility test for admissions to international universities in the USA, Ireland and Australia. The suspected organisers allegedly collected ₹5,000 to ₹10,000 from each student to ensure they pass the exam, according to the police.
The police picked up four candidates, two mediators and one student who wrote the exam on behalf of the others. The accused were identified as 22-year-old Kandakatla Praveen Reddy, student of B.Sc Computer Science at Keshav Memorial Institute of Commerce and Science who wrote the exam in place of the students. Two other students — 21-year-old BBA student of Pasha Noble Degree College Trivedhi Harinath and 21-year-old B.Com student of Avinash College of Commerce Banala Krishna — allegedly acted as mediators.
The seven individuals arrested also included four candidates who were supposed to take the exam — 21-year-old Edavally Aravind Reddy and 22-year-old Nenavath Santhosh, both B. Tech students of Mallareddy Institute of Engineering and Technology, 26-year-old M.Sc Computer Science student at Kakatiya University Malladi Naveen Kumar and 22-year-old B.Tech student at Teegala Krishna Reddy Engineering College Alakuntla Vinay.
The Hayathnagar police has filed the case under the Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and further investigating is underway.