NEET impersonation case: Absconding MBBS student moves Madras HC for bail

K V Udit Surya and his father V K Venkatesan, a senior government doctor in Chennai’s Stanley Medical College, are absconding since September 17 after the Theni police booked Surya under IPC sections 419, 420 and 120 (B).

Surya allegedly hired a person to write the NEET 2019 exam and managed a seat in Theni Medical College. An inquiry in his college following an anonymous complaint last week found that it was not Surya who wrote the exam and that he did not attend the medical counselling either.

Investigators said they have searched Surya’s house in Tondiarpet in Chennai last week but the family was missing.

Before the case was transferred to the CB-CID on Monday, Theni SP V Baskaran, who led the investigation, told The Indian Express that the role of both the son and father was being probed. “We have gone through their call records and bank transactions. They took money from the bank account a day before they disappeared. We have a tip off that the student who originally appeared for the NEET exam in the name of Surya was from Mumbai. We also found evidence of Dr Venkatesan’s frequent trips to Mumbai,” Baskaran said.

According to the Stanley Medical College authorities, Dr Venkatesan stopped coming to work after applying for 10-day leave on September 16.

A detailed investigation by the police and state directorate of medical education found that Surya allegedly sought the help of touts to hire a person, reportedly from Mumbai, to clear the NEET exam after he failed to pass it in two attempts.

Surya was voluntarily allowed to discontinue the course after Theni Medical College management questioned him following a complaint that his photo in the college admission card was different from the one in the NEET marks card and other documents.

In his letter to the Director of Medical Education (DME), Surya cited “depression” and family problems for his decision to quit the MBBS course. After the issue was reported in the media, the government had ordered a massive verification in the state’s 24 medical colleges to find if there were similar cases.

In his plea on September 20, Surya said a reporter approached him stating that his photo in the admit card and other documents were different. He claimed that the media reported that there was an impersonation even after he gave a clarification. He said his arrest would make him a victim of media exaggeration. The bail petition said all documents were available with authorities and that there is no need for custodial interrogation. However, the government counsel maintained that the student has to surrender for inquiry and that the case has been handed over to the CB-CID.