The inquiry into the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) marks-for-money fraud uncovered a pan-India network. The gang targeted at least 30 medical candidates in Maharashtra, Delhi, Bihar, and Gujarat, promising to inflate their grades in exchange for large payments.

The Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) of Rajkot, Gujarat, said on Friday, May 9, that the gang was charging between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 20 lakh per student to manipulate the marks and that the scam had been going on for two years, The Times of India reports.

Previously, the DCB detained five people, including 44-year-old Vipul Teraiya, an education consultant, and Rajesh Pethani, the proprietor of the Rajkot-based coaching institute Royal Academy.

It was discovered that they defrauded a Jetpur-based father of Rs 30 lakh by promising to boost his son's NEET test scores in 2024.

Teraiya's brother Prakash, who operates a consultancy in Surat; Manjeet Jain, a CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) test coordinator in Belagavi, Karnataka; and Dhaval Sanghvi from Udaipur are still on the run.

Dr Parthraj Singh Gohil, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (Crime), said numerous teams were conducting searches across Ahmedabad, Rajasthan, and Belagavi to find the trio. The scheme is being coordinated from Belagavi, and the masterminds are Vipul and Jain.

"So far, 30 students have been identified as victims, with the fraud spanning across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Bihar, and Delhi. Besides the NEET aspirant from Jetpur, two more students from Rajkot district have fallen into their trap," Gohil said.