KARACHI:
Four members of multiple groups involved in leaking Matric and Intermediate board exams and earning millions of rupees have been arrested.
The Karachi police chief tasked the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) to trace the organized network behind the document leaks. These ten groups used to leak exams to students through WhatsApp groups, a night before the exams.
SSP SIU Samiullah Soomro, speaking to The Express PAkGazette, said complaints of online fraud had been received for quite some time. Surprisingly, the leaked documents were between 70 and 90 percent accurate.
One of the suspects is a cybersecurity student. The detainees had initially created eight WhatsApp groups with more than 1,300 students. In these groups, members were informed one night before the exam that the document had been leaked and was available to the administrator. Interested students can contact them via direct message to obtain the job. During the investigation, the police discovered two more WhatsApp groups.
The police have arrested the leaders of four of the ten groups. Replying to a question, Soomro said the police suspect that some people from the Matric and Intermediate Boards may also be involved, through whom the documents were originally leaked to the suspects.
However, during interrogation, a suspect named Mubeen, a cybersecurity student, confessed that he created the documents himself using artificial intelligence. It used previous articles and guesses to generate a new article with AI, which is why the leaked articles were never 100 percent accurate. He then sold these works to students through WhatsApp groups.
Soomro added that the suspects collected money from students through JazzCash and Easypaisa, and police obtained records of these transactions.
The main number used to manage WhatsApp groups is from the United Kingdom and efforts are being made to obtain its details. Police also recovered money earned through document leaks, along with mobile phones, hard drives and transaction records from the suspects.
The arrests were made in Malir, Surjani Town, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and New Karachi areas.
SIU police will present the suspects in court on Tuesday and seek their physical remand.
