950 from Gujarat used fake IELTS scores to move to US, Canada

The Mehsana police which investigated irregularities in the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) exams has brought seven centres - Rajkot, Vadodara, Mehsana, Ahmedabad, Navsari, Nadiad and Anand - under scanner. Officers said that at least 950 candidates are suspected to have falsely secured high IELTS scores this year by paying Rs14,00,000. All of them are now either in the US or Canada. The first case of irregularity came in April when a dummy student was caught taking the exam in Nadiad. Later, it was found that CCTVs in two centres were switched off to accommodate dummy candidates in Navsari and Mehsana. A man from Mehsana, who is in the realty business, is the kingpin of the scam, said police sources.
The police came into action, after report was lodged that illegal immigrants from North Gujarat needed a Hindi translator in a US court despite having IELTS scores of seven and eight. They had taken the exam in September last. According to the officers, the US consulate general had directed Mehsana police to search the case after which the cops started an investigation. A police officer said that the scam of issuing IELTS certificates to US and Canada aspirants has been running for nearly five years. Six men who travelled to Canada on student visas were caught by the US agencies on April 28. They were rescued by the agencies on the border of Canada and US from a sinking boat in the St Regis river who were illegally crossing over into the US.