The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the Criminal Investigation Agency (CIA) on Monday dismantled four organised groups during a crackdown on cheating and paper leak networks operating amid the ongoing matriculation examinations in Karachi.
The CIA Police, through a technical and targeted operation, arrested four individuals of a total of 10 involved in organised cheating and paper leak networks. The operation has been further intensified to arrest the remaining six suspects, as well as those allegedly providing them internal support.
The arrests were made during raids conducted in various parts of the city, including Malir, Surjani Town, New Karachi and Gulshan-e-Iqbal. The arrested men included Mubeen Khan, Osama, Bilal and Abdul Razzaq.
“The operation was launched on the directives of Karachi Additional IG Azad Khan with SIU SSP Samiullah Soomro assigned a key role in executing the crackdown,” CIA chief DIG Muqaddas Haider told The News. “The arrested suspects were running organised networks involved in exam cheating and paper leaks, earning money from students by guaranteeing leaked papers a night before exams.”
DIG Haider said investigations into the case had been initiated by the CIA’s SIU police. He asserted that no individual involved in the cheating mafia would be spared. Police officials said that around eight to ten such gangs were currently active in the city. Among those arrested, Khan is believed to be operating the largest network with 13 groups providing cheating service to 13,000 student members as each group contains around 1,000 students.
“Basically, we had intelligence reports that around eight groups were operating in Karachi,” said SIU chief SSP Samiullah Soomro while speaking to The News. “We traced and arrested four of them and during interrogation it was revealed that there are two more groups, taking the total number up to 10.”
The officer added that the question papers being shared on WhatsApp groups were around 90 per cent same as those distributed in the exams, which clearly indicated that the gangs were receiving internal support from somewhere. “We are also trying to trace and arrest the remaining six groups, as well as identify those providing internal assistance to these networks, using technical tools such as CDR and other evidence-based methods.”
Investigators disclosed that Mubeen Khan was a final-year cybersecurity student at Sindh Madressatul Islam University, while another suspect was an Intermediate student. The accused allegedly collected payments through various online banking channels or EasyPaisa accounts in exchange for leaked exam papers.
