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Godhra NEET UG cheating case: 30 parents who skipped notice to get fresh summons
Godhra DSP NV Patel said the parents of some students were called for questioning on Thursday but were a no-show
AHMEDABAD: Parents of about 30 students whose answer sheets for the National Eligibility Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) were to filled by teachers at an exam centre in Gujarat’s Godhra have skipped the initial summons issued to them, a senior Godhra police officer said on Friday.
The officer said fresh summons would be issued to them in connection with the investigation. Five persons have already been arrested in this case,
“The parents of these students were called for questioning on Thursday but they did not turn up. We will soon send them fresh summons,” said NV Patel, deputy superintendent of police, Godhra.
The names of the students figured on a list of candidates whose answer sheets were to be filled by teachers at the Jay Jalaram School in Godhra in Panchmahal district. The case was unearthed after the Panchmahal collector received a tip ahead of the exam.
The Godhra case comes amid a swirling controversy around skewed results and allegations of paper leaks during the examination for undergraduate medical college admissions across the country.
Police said the initial probe revealed that the alleged cheating indicated the involvement of the school principal where the irregularities were reported and an invigilator appointed by the National Testing Agency.
The officer said cheating at the centre, where around 2,500 aspirants appeared for the exam on May 5, was facilitated by local education professionals and consultants and that it involved a pay-for-pass plot.
Among those arrested are Tushar Bhatt, a physics teacher and deputy superintendent for the exam appointed by National Testing Agency, Parshuram Roy of Roy Overseas, an education consultancy firm and Purshottam Sharma, principal of Jalaram School where the exam was held. Two others including Vibhor Anand, who reportedly introduced students to Roy and Arif Vora, a local resident implicated as Bhatt’s accomplice have also been arrested.
“Roy conducted seminars, especially for overseas education. He would meet these students and their parents at these seminars. He charged varying amounts from different aspirants, offering them deals that included money to help them score better in NEET,” said Patel. The amount that Roy took from the aspirants to improve their NEET score would vary from ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh per student, he added.
Students who paid money to the accused were asked to leave the answers to questions they were unable to attempt blank. Bhatt, the school teacher, was to fill those blank spaces after the exam was over and before the answer sheets were sealed.
“The authorities came to know about this scam ahead of the exam and they arrested Bhatt in whose car cash of ₹7 lakhs was found. Four others were also nabbed soon,” said another police official.
On Friday, a local court in Godhra rejected the school principal’s bail plea.
