NEET-UG 2024: Maharashtra police uncover Bihar-linked admit cards in Latur

Investigations in Maharashtra have uncovered that parents of NEET-UG 2024 aspirants allegedly paid between Rs 5,00,000 and Rs 7,00,000 to suspects to secure better exam scores for their children

The Maharashtra Police, which recently uncovered a racket involving the NEET-UG in Latur district, found more than a dozen admit cards belonged to students who appeared to be from Bihar.

Authorities are currently examining whether this gang, which was reportedly active in the Marathwada area, had connections to Bihar or was part of a larger criminal network.

A report by The Economic Times quoted a senior police officer as saying that numerous admit cards from Bihar have been shared among the accused in WhatsApp conversations. “It is suspected that these students could have travelled to centres in Maharashtra to take the NEET-UG. The admit cards of students from Maharashtra taking exams in Bihar centres have also been found. These chats are being studied to investigate the purpose and to unearth the modus operandi,” the police officer said.

 

The police officer said the investigation aims to determine whether the accused directed students to specific centres in either state that may have been compromised. At these locations, students might have received answers in exchange for money.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is currently investigating the NEET-UG case. According to sources cited in the report, the investigation in Maharashtra uncovered that parents paid amounts ranging from Rs 5,00,000 to Rs 7,00,000 to the suspects to improve their children’s scores.

“There are different rate cards. The accused teachers would take an advance and the rest were paid once the result was out. The money trail is being investigated to find out how the bribe was distributed. The money trail will ascertain if the gang was restricted to only these four or if there was a larger inter-state gang at play,” the officer added, as quoted by the report.

Acting on information from the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, the Latur police have registered a case against Sanjay Tukaram Jadhav, Jalil Khan Umar Khan Pathan, Eranna Mashnaji Konalwar, and Gangadhar Gunde.

Jadhav and Pathan, who are district council teachers and also conduct private tuition classes, have been arrested and are being held in police custody until July 2.

The report showed that the Latur gang employed at least four methods to deceive parents. These included impersonation, selecting exam centres where the gang or their associates were stationed, and providing the correct answers to selected students during the last 30 minutes of the exam. In some instances, the accused tampered with the optical mark recognition (OMR) sheets by having a staff member, such as a peon, take the answer sheet under the guise of a bathroom break, fill in the correct answers, and then scan the sheet. Another method involved leaking the exam papers, the report said.

“However, the probe into the Maharashtra case has not shown any leads of leaked papers being shared. Since the probe is at the nascent stage and with the accused not cooperating, the probe is still underway,” the official added.

NEET-UG row: CBI takes control of investigation

On Monday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) gathered all evidence related to the alleged NEET-UG 2024 paper leak from Bihar police’s Economic Offences Unit (EOU).

This evidence included a partially burnt question paper found at a Patna residence, mobile phones from the suspects, laptops, post-dated cheques, and reference question papers provided by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

NEET-UG: Only 813 appear for retest

On Sunday, only 813 out of 1,563 students attended the NEET-UG re-exam. Students who did not give the retest will keep their original scores without any additional marks. Following a Supreme Court order, the re-exam took place at seven centres. In Chandigarh, both eligible candidates were absent. In Chhattisgarh, 219 out of 602 eligible candidates attended, while in Gujarat, only one candidate showed up. 

Haryana had 287 out of 494 eligible candidates taking the re-exam, and in Meghalaya, 234 out of 464 eligible candidates participated.