Calcutta, Feb. 8: Bengal sleuths have arrested in Lucknow a medical student who allegedly appeared as a “dummy” candidate in the 2007 Joint Entrance Examination.

Niraj Kumar Jadav, who was produced in a Lucknow court today, is in the third year of King George’s Medical College and Hospital there.

With him, the number of arrests in connection with the entrance test scam has gone up to 33.

The detective department had unearthed the scam, in which fake or “dummy” candidates wrote the examination for medical seat aspirants, last year and picked up several students and parents.

Detective department deputy commissioner Jawed Shamim said Jadav, a resident of Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh, had taken the test on behalf of Saurav Das, of Baranagar, on the northern fringes of Calcutta. Saurav took admission to NRS Medical College.

The police team reached Lucknow a few days ago. “They raided the house where Jadav was staying this morning,” said Shamim.

“Jadav was paid Rs 40,000 to appear in the exam. He flew to Calcutta a day before the test,” said an officer.

The alleged masterminds of the racket, Mihir Jha and Ranvijay Pathak, had links with students in medical colleges across the country.

“The duo worked as mediators and settled deals between examinees and dummy candidates for a hefty commission,” the officer added.