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CBI arrests Godhra school owner in NEET case
CBI has identified the accused as Dixit Patel, owner of Jay Jalaram School, where the NEET exam was conducted
Ahmedabad: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday arrested the owner of a private school in Godhra district of Gujarat in connection with the irregularities in this year’s National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG).
Dixit Patel, owner of Jay Jalaram School situated near Godhra in Panchmahal district where the exam was conducted, was arrested from his residence in the early hours of Sunday, an official familiar with the matter said, requesting anonymity.
Patel is the sixth person to be arrested in this case from Gujarat.
According to the official, the accused allegedly solicited between ₹5 lakh and ₹10 lakh from candidates, promising to enhance their examination scores, the official added.
On June 27, CBI sought the custody of five men — Jay Jalaram School principal Purushottam Sharma, teachers Tushar Bhatt and Parsuram Roy, and two middlemen, Aarif Noor Mohammed and Vibhor Anand — who were arrested by the local police in Godhra in May for allegedly trying to help students clear NEET through unfair means.
The federal investigation agency, which took over the probe last week, has registered six cases of suspected irregularities in the medical exam.
On Sunday, CBI filed an application in the Panchmahal district court seeking remand of Patel. However, the court rejected the application, saying that the case fell under the jurisdiction of the Special CBI court.
The federal agency later approached the Special CBI court in Ahmedabad.
According to Gujarat Police, the accused asked the candidates not to attempt a question if they did not know the answer. The suspects allegedly planned to fill the answer sheets on behalf of 27 students, whom they charged ₹10 lakh each, after the completion of the exam, officials familiar with the matter said.
Last year, when NEET was held in the same school, the accused learnt that OMR answer sheets were kept there overnight before being dispatched,” agency’s lawyer Dhruv Malik said.
Seeking their custody, the agency said that it needed to interrogate the accused to unearth the “larger conspiracy”.
“...a larger conspiracy exists involving interstate links in the NEET-UG examination related irregularities. The accused persons are believed to possess crucial information pertinent to exposing the broader conspiracy orchestrating the manipulation of the NEET-UG exam. Therefore, it is imperative to interview and examine them…” the CBI said in the court of principal district and sessions judge at Godhra on June 27.
On Saturday, CBI searched the premises of suspects in Anand, Kheda, Ahmedabad and Godhra districts of Gujarat as it stepped up its investigation into the case, people aware of the matter said.
