NEET controversy: Gujarat police detains 5 for alleged cheating

New Delhi: The Gujarat Police detained five people on Friday, for suspected cheating in the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test (NEET) that was conducted on May 5, at an examination centre in Godhra, Panchmahal district.

Investigations into purported anomalies in the pre-medical entrance exam are also "suggestive of a paper leak," according to the Bihar Police, as The Indian Express reported on Saturday.

These events transpired following Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's statement on Thursday that there was still no hard proof to support allegations of a question paper leak and other irregularities in the National Testing Agency exam used to determine admission to undergraduate medical programmes, Scroll.in reported.

In Gujarat, authorities are looking into alleged malpractices during the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test on May 5 at Jay Jalaram School, an examination centre in Godhra's Parvadi village.

According to the first information report, students and their parents, as well as a coaching centre managed by a group of teachers in Vadodara, were implicated in the alleged irregularities, The Hindu stated.

According to the complaint, students who reportedly paid money were asked to skip questions on the exam that they did not know the answers to. According to The Hindu, the teachers who were involved in the alleged scheme were supposed to fill in the blanks on the questions.

According to the complaint, an education department inspection squad "thwarted" an attempt to enable the alleged wrongdoing on May 5 during a raid at the test centre.

Education consultant Vibhor Anand, school principal Purshottam Sharma, and the primary culprit, Tushar Bhatt, the deputy of the school's examination facility, were soon taken into custody. Arif Vora and Parashuram Roy, the owner of an immigration firm in Vadodara, were also taken into custody.

Four students allegedly paid the coaching institution Rs 66 lakh apiece, according to the authorities, as reported by The Hindu. On the other hand, three more people provided blank checks.

The Indian Express stated that on May 5, the Patna Police in Bihar got information about purported irregularities in the way the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test was administered at various testing locations. As a result, a case was brought. The investigation was then taken up by a Special Investigation Team that the state police's Economic Offences Unit had formed.

The team claimed to have taken admission cards, postdated checks, and several candidates' credentials from members of an "organised inter-state gang."

According to The Indian Express, which cited an unidentified police official, thirteen people have been arrested in connection with the case thus far.

“Four are candidates who took the NEET [National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test],” the police official said. “The remaining are their parents and members of the organised gang, which allegedly gathered 35 candidates before the exam at a school under the jurisdiction of Ramakrishna Nagar police station, and conducted a mock exam. They allegedly received the NEET question paper with answers there.”

Additional Director-General of Police NH Khan told the newspaper that a set of questions was sent to the National Testing Agency. “Our team has just received answers,” he said. “We may have some follow-up questions. We have been working on some contacts we have received in the course of our investigation, which is very much suggestive of a paper leak.”

Khan said that the Special Investigation Team was attempting to establish “corroborative evidence, such as who got question and answer sheets and from where, and how it could have reached the examination centres”.

On June 4, the admission exam results were released. Later, a number of applicants claimed that 67 candidates—six of whom came from the same testing centre—had received the highest ranking due to mark inflation.

Additionally, according to some allegations, the question paper was leaked before the test at some centres.

The National Testing Agency refuted the accusations, stating that 67 individuals were able to secure the top rank due to changes made to the physics paper's answer key and the provision of compensatory marks for lost writing time.

A number of petitions alleging question paper leaks, the "arbitrary" allocation of grace marks to certain applicants, and other exam irregularities are being heard by the Supreme Court.

It issued notices to the National Testing Agency and the Centre on Friday, on a plea requesting that the Central Bureau of Investigation look into the claims.