Second arrest from Maharashtra in NEET-UG ‘paper leak’: 40-yr-old teacher in police custody

The police said that the questioning of the students, whose admit cards were found in their mobile phone, and their parents are also underway.

Candidates who are seeking admission will have to freeze seats by July 9. (File Photo)

A day after Latur police arrested a 34-year-old headmaster of a Zilla Parishad school for his alleged links to the NEET-UG paper leak case, the police early Tuesday arrested a 40-year-old teacher.

The police claim that the teacher, identified as Sanjay Jadhav, was a mediator between the Delhi-based mastermind, Gangadhar Munde, and two accused from Maharashtra— headmaster Pathan and one Iranna Kongalwar, who is absconding.

According to the police officials, the headmaster Jalil Khan Umar Khan Pathan was arrested on Monday following which Jadhav was taken in custody and subsequently arrested.

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An officer part of the probe team said, “We have learnt that Jadhav was majorly involved in the racket as he along with Pathan and Kongalwar promised students that they will ensure that the student gets sufficient marks to get admission in medical colleges in exchange for money. Through Jadhav, the two other accused sought help from Gangadhar.”

The investigators believe that the accused, who were in possession of admit cards of several students, would get the answer sheets after submissions at the centre and accordingly fill the answers on their behalf.

The police said that they are trying to understand their modus operandi.

The teacher was produced before a court in Latur and police listed 23 grounds for Jadhav’s 10-day custody. However, when his advocate Shrikant Borade informed the court that he was previously interrogated jointly by the ATS and the local police, the court remanded him in police custody till July 2.

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The police said that the questioning of the students, whose admit cards were found in their mobile phone, and their parents are also underway.

Latur police registered a case under relevant sections of cheating and conspiracy of the Indian Penal Code and The Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024 on Sunday, after the ATS officials learnt that Pathan, Jadhav, Kongalwar and Gangadhar were part of the racket.

Accordingly, they informed Latur police following which Pathan and Jadhav were summoned and subsequently questioned on Friday.

During the course of the interrogation, they scrutinised the mobile phones and found several incriminating documents including the hall tickets of several examinees, suspicious chats on their WhatsApp and online money transactions.

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The police officials suspect that the arrested accused were involved in the malpractices of other government examinations as well.