The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) intensified its probe into alleged irregularities in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test – Undergraduate (NEET-UG) exam, conducting searches at seven locations in Gujarat on Saturday. The agency also arrested a journalist, Jamaluddin Ansari, in Jharkhand on Friday, accusing him of assisting the principal and vice principal of a Hazaribagh school, who are already under arrest for their alleged role in the paper leak case.
The CBI’s investigation has revealed a possible large-scale conspiracy spanning across several states, including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, Delhi, and Jharkhand. The agency believes that the accused orchestrated a scheme where candidates, allegedly arranged from Odisha, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, were encouraged to choose Godhra in Gujarat as their examination center and select Gujarati as their language, potentially exploiting loopholes in the system.
In a significant development, a special CBI court in Godhra granted the agency four-day custody of Jay Jalaram School’s principal, Purushottam Sharma, teacher Tushar Bhatt, and middlemen Vibhor Anand and Arif Vohra. These individuals are suspected to have played crucial roles in facilitating irregularities in the NEET-UG exam held on May 5th in Godhra.
The CBI’s investigations have also unearthed that the examination centers in Godhra and Kheda, selected by the National Testing Agency (NTA), were under the control of the same school administration. This has led the agency to believe that the accused may have manipulated the system for their own gain, arranging candidates and helping them achieve high scores in the exam for financial rewards.
The candidates allegedly arranged by the accused individuals falsely claimed Panchmahal and Vadodara in Gujarat as their addresses, further adding to the suspicion of fraudulent activities. The CBI is determined to expose the “broader conspiracy” behind the manipulation of the NEET-UG exam and bring the masterminds to justice. The agency aims to uncover the extent of the connections of the arrested individuals in other states and their potential collaboration with other accused persons involved in similar cases.
The CBI has registered six FIRs in connection with the NEET-UG irregularities. The FIR from Bihar pertains to the leakage of the examination paper, while the remaining FIRs from Gujarat and Rajasthan focus on impersonation of candidates and cheating. The agency’s own FIR, initiated on a reference from the Union Education Ministry, aims to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance examination.
NEET-UG, conducted by the NTA, is crucial for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses in government and private institutions. This year, the exam was held on May 5th at 4,750 centers in 571 cities, including 14 abroad. Over 23 lakh candidates participated in the test.
