NEET fraud: 16 students from Odisha, Jharkhand, Karnataka, MP chose Godhra exam centre, court told

The court remanded Roy, one of the three arrested in the case, to police remand until May 20 after considering the 22-point remand application filed by the Godhra taluka police station.

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“Some of these 16 students travelled over 1,000 km from Odisha and Jharkhand to appear for the exam at this centre and their name features on a list of suspected malpractice...," he added.

At least 16 students who belonged to far off states like Odisha, Jharkhand and Karnataka are suspected of having agreed to pay Rs 10 lakh each to clear NEET and chose the Jai Jalaram School in Parvadi village of Panchmahal’s Godhra taluka as their centre, despite hailing from outside Gujarat, the prosecution informed a Godhra court on Saturday while seeking a 14-day remand of the accused Parshuram Roy.

The court remanded Roy, one of the three arrested in the case, to police remand until May 20 after considering the 22-point remand application filed by the Godhra taluka police station. Roy, the owner of Vadodara-based immigration agency Roy Overseas, also “expressed willingness to become a witness” to help the prosecution’s case.

Among the grounds for seeking remand, the police informed the court that 16 of at least 26 students who allegedly “approached the accused” hailed from Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Karnataka but had chosen Godhra’s Jai Jalaram School as their preferred centre for the exam.

The names of the 26 students had been found in two lists recovered from prime accused Tushar Bhatt — a geography teacher at the school and a superintendent of the NEET centre — during the raid by the district education department at the centre on May 5.

Panchmahal District Government Pleader Rakesh Thakur said, “The magistrate considered our argument that it was unusual for 16 students from far off states like Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Karnataka to opt for a centre in a village like Parvadi in Godhra… It is a matter of investigation as to who suggested to these students to opt for Godhra instead of centres closer to their locations…”

“Some of these 16 students travelled over 1,000 km from Odisha and Jharkhand to appear for the exam at this centre and their name features on a list of suspected malpractice…,” he added.

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