In a significant breakthrough, four persons, including two teachers, have been arrested by the Maharashtra Police for circulating alleged leaked question papers of the NEET undergraduate medical entrance examination. The arrests occurred amid turmoil regarding the exam, which continues to trigger controversy to date.
The Nanded Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) first arrested two teachers originating from Latur, namely, Sanjay Tukaram Jadhav and Jalil Umarkhan Pathan, under the blackmail scam. The two were released on Sunday morning and rejoined the group of four in police custody, including Iranna Mashnaji Kongalwar, a resident of Dharashiv district and a Delhi man known as Gangadhar.
All four personnel have been booked under sections of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, and an FIR has been registered against them. The FIR says that the accused are involved in practicing fraud by providing information about exams to students instead of money.
During the probe, it was found that Jadhav could have leaked the hall ticket details, and Kongalwar gave the same details to Gangadhar, who is livk, ed in Delhi and is the main accused in the case.
A Special Investigation Team, SIT, conducted by the Latur Deputy Commissioner of Police, has been set up to investigate the case further.
NEET-UG exam has time and again faced controversies; students demonstrated against what they deemed as a leaked question paper, and after this, grace marks were given to over 1500 students. The grace marks were later discontinued, and students negatively affected by them were given a chance to redo their exams.
Amidst all these, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has stepped in to conduct an investigation into the matter. It has registered an FIR based on a reference by the Union Ministry of Education regarding the alleged malpractice in NEET-UG. Special teams have been sent to Gujarat and Bihar to investigate question paper leaks, while the local police have also lodged cases.
Lately, arrests have been made in Maharashtra and CBI involvement took further escalation of the NEET-UG exam therefore besides holding a merit test required, it needs a proper and clear investigation.
