By ​Arun Munappa Salian, 40, the paanwala arrested for running a racket to tamper with University of Mumbai marks sheets, controlled the operation using a network of intermediaries within the exam department, and phone calls placed to filing clerks in MU, all without actually setting foot in the Kalina campus, preliminary Anti-Corruption Bureau investigations have revealed. A raid conducted last month on Salian’s paan shop yielded marks sheets, education certificates and other documents of 18 students. ACB sources told Mumbai Mirror that Salian, who ran operations to doctor degree marks sheets out of Bhavani Pan Bidi Shop, a boxy stall located a few metres outside MU’s gates, maintained connections with senior functionaries in the university. ACB sources hinted that the extent of the racket could reach deep within the rank and file of university administration.The paanwala, who is from Mangalore and has run the racket for five years, was trapped while offering to modify the marks of a third year BA student, whose father complained to the ACB in May.In his complaint, the parent had alleged that Salian had allegedly demanded Rs 75,000 to pass his daughter in three subjects of psychology; at Rs 25,000 per paper. The parent and Salian settled on an amount of Rs 65,000 of which Rs 15,000 was paid in advance. The paanwala was arrested as the transaction took place, on June 16. The ACB discovered documents belonging to 18 students in the paan shop.Following the arrest, a committee headed by Dean of Commerce, MU, Madhu Nair, was set up, which submitted its fact-finding report on Friday. Four officials of the examination department were suspended subsequent to the committee’s revelations. Mumbai Mirror reported the suspensions of these employees of the examination department on Monday: head clerk Priti Raul, junior clerk Uttam Jaitapkar, assistant registrar Chetan Kamlalu and superintendent Rajshri Chavan.“We carried out a detailed investigation and the fact-finding report was submitted to the university following which these suspensions were made,” said Nair.ACB officials said Salian and his accomplices identified their potential “clients” after having singled out students and parents who seemed particularly anxious about the outcome of degree examinations. (See The operation). “They preyed on them going by their body language,” an ACB source told Mumbai Mirror. “Salian operated the racket through a class 4 worker from within the university with the help of a private agent who drew potential customers to the racket. The agents would loiter in the campus and would spot students and parents who repeatedly visited the examination department and asked them if they needed help. If they said that the problem had to do with marks of a student or evaluation in general, they would assure them that they would ‘pass’ the student. The parent or student was then taken outside the campus where Salian took down details, including the roll numbers, name and the course under which the student has appeared for the exam.”During the probe, investigators began to suspect the operation reached deeper into the rank and file of MU’s administration. “We suspect the involvement of some high level officials including professors, moderators and several others who handle mark-sheets and answer sheets after the exam,” an ACB official said. The bureau has summoned some officials to their headquarters in Worli on July 15 for an enquiry. “The tampering of marks cannot be done only by class 4 workers. Only people in positions of authority can do so, which is why we are trying to narrow down the list of suspects,” said the ACB official. A senior official from the university said all four permanent employees suspended were charged with deviating from prescribed procedure.“When a student applies for revaluation of his exam paper, the procedure is to get a copy of the original paper and get it moderated to see if any mark-improvement is possible. On the rarest of the rare occasions that the paper is lost, the university officials can decide to give minimum marks required to pass,” the official said. “But these four officials did not follow the due process and were handing out photocopies of revaluated marks sheets to students. They also issued letters to students stating that they have passed.”