NEET-UG irregularities: CBI visits centres in Godhra, Kheda

The CBI team, investigating the case, visited Jay Jalaram School in Godhra’s Parvadi village and the other one in Kheda district’s Padal — about 115 kilometres away from Godhra — which was another NEET-UG exam centre in the state. Both the schools are owned by Dixit Patel.

“The CBI team visited classrooms (Godhra centre) where candidates appeared for the NEET-UG exam on May 5. They took photographs of the classrooms and checked the angle of CCTV cameras installed there,” Patel, who along with several members of the management was present at the school during the CBI visit, told PTI. They collected information for the NEET-UG case, as these were designated as the exam centres.

Meanwhile, another team of CBI officials, accompanied by the local Panchmahal police, visited the office of Roy Overseas Services in Vadodara from where the Panchmahal district police had recovered cheques that some parents of aspiring candidates had allegedly handed over to accused Parshuram Roy, an immigration agency owner, for the malpractice. Out of 27 students who had either paid in advance or agreed to pay money to Roy and the other accused, only three were able to clear the exam, sources said. The CBI is likely to move the Panchmahal district court to seek the custody of the accused from it.

The Panchmahal district police, which registered the FIR in the case, has arrested five persons — Roy, prime accused Tushar Bhatt (who was the NEET-UG centre superintendent in the district), school principal Purshottam Sharma, education consultant Vibor Anand, and Arif Vohra (a resident of Godhra) — officials said.

The CBI team has also sought help from the local police for translating a 1,000-page inquiry report by the police, from Gujarati to English.

Based on a complaint filed by Panchmahal district education officer Kiritkumar Patel, an FIR was registered at the Godhra taluka police station on May 8, against Bhatt, Roy and Vora for allegedly conspiring to help at least 26 students clear the NEET-UG 2024 “with meritorious rank”. Anand and Sharma were named as accused in the FIR later.

According to the FIR, on May 5, the attempted malpractice was “foiled” during a raid by the education department’s inspection squad at the NEET-UG centre; following an input received by the Panchmahal Collector. According to the FIR, it was decided that the said students would appear for the exam and allegedly “only attempt questions they could solve” and leave the “rest of the answer sheet blank, only to be filled by agents concerned when they would be submitted to the exam supervisor”.

The accused have been been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust), 409 (criminal breach of trust and misappropriation by a public servant or banker/ merchant/ agent), 420 (cheating and dishonestly), and 120B (criminal conspiracy). On June 23, CBI filed a fresh FIR against unidentified accused in the case.

The central probe agency has taken over the investigation of five new cases of alleged malpractices in NEET-UG that were being probed by the police in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Bihar. The NEET-UG is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country. Over 24 lakh students had appeared for the 2024 NEET-UG across centres in 571 cities nationwide. Results were released on June 4.