A criminal case has been registered against a schoolteacher and two others in Gujarat’s Godhra for their alleged involvement in the malpractice of helping six candidates appearing for the NEET-UG exam by promising to solve their papers for a sum of Rs 10 lakh each, police said on Thursday.
The racket was busted at a Godhra school designated as a centre for the NEET-UG exam held on Sunday after the district collector received a tip-off, according to an FIR.
A physics teacher, Tushar Bhatt, the deputy superintendent of exams at the centre, was booked along with two others, namely Parsuram Roy and Arif Vora. Rs 7 lakh in cash was recovered from Bhatt’s car, which Vora paid him as an advance to help a candidate get into the merit list, said the police.
As per the deal between the accused and several NEET-UG aspirants, they were asked to leave blank questions whose answers they did not know. The answers to these questions were to be written once the papers were collected after the exam, police said quoting the FIR.
An FIR was filed in the case at the Godhra taluka police station on a complaint of the district education officer. According to the FIR, Bhatt was working as a teacher at Jay Jalaram School and was appointed the deputy centre superintendent for NEET in the city.
A team of district additional collector and district education officer arrived at the school on the day of the examination and questioned Bhatt. Upon checking his mobile phone, they recovered a list of 16 candidates with their names, roll numbers and exam centres which was sent to his WhatsApp number by co-accused Roy, stated the FIR.
When enquired about the list, Bhatt said these candidates were to take the NEET exam at his centre. He later confessed to having been promised Rs 10 lakh each to solve the question papers of six of these candidates, District Education Officer Kirit Patel said.
One of the aspirants had paid Rs 7 lakh in advance which was seized by authorities.
The investigating team seized the teacher’s mobile phone, cash and the car from where the cash was recovered and submitted a report to the district collector, who later ordered the registration of an FIR.
The three accused were booked for criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy, a Godhra taluka police station official said.
Further investigation in the case was underway, said the official.
The NEET (UG) is an all-India entrance test for students who wish to pursue undergraduate medical (MBBS), dental (BDS) and AYUSH (BAMS, BUMS, BHMS) courses in government and private institutions in India.
(With PTI inputs)
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