A CBI team reached Godhra city in Gujarat's Panchmahal district today, June 24, 2024, to investigate the case of alleged irregularities in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test - Undergraduate (NEET-UG) medical entrance exam held on May 5, officials said.

A case was registered by the Godhra police on May 8 under various Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections, including criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust, for allegedly trying to help 27 candidates clear the NEET UG for a sum of Rs 10 lakh each.

According to the Superintendent of Police, Panchmahal, Himanshu Solanki, a team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) reached Godhra and met local police officers. "We will extend all the support they need to investigate the case," he said, as stated in a report by PTI.

CBI filed FIR

The CBI on June 23 filed a fresh FIR against unidentified persons under IPC sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating), among others, amid countrywide protests and litigation by students for a probe into the paper leak claims.

Gujarat's home department on June 23 issued a notification to transfer cases of NEET-UG paper leaks registered by the state police to the CBI, paving the way for the central agency to take over the probe.

The Gujarat police have so far arrested five persons, including the principal and teacher of a school in Godhra, in connection with the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG exam. Revealing the names of the arrested individuals earlier, SP Solanki said they are Tushar Bhatt, school principal Parshottam Sharma, Vadodara-based education consultant Parsuram Roy, his aide Vibhor Anand and alleged middleman Arif Vohra.

Godhra scam

As per the FIR registered at Godhra taluka police station on a complaint of the district education officer, Rs 7 lakh cash was recovered from Bhatt, who was working as a teacher at Jay Jalaram School and was appointed the deputy centre superintendent for NEET in the city, PTI reported.

Sources revealed that out of 27 students who had either paid in advance or agreed to pay money to Roy and others, only three were able to clear the exam. The accused told the candidates to solve questions they knew and leave the others blank, which would be filled in when papers were collected after the exam, as per the FIR.