NEET paper leak: Police identify link between teachers and agents

The Latur police investigating the NEETUG paper leak case have identified Gangadhar Gunde as a common link between the other accused teachers and agents Officials have also discovered that Gunde was in contact with several individuals in Bihar However it remains unclear whether these individuals are students or agents assisting students in Bihar with the NEETUG exam papers The police have registered a case based on information received from Maharashtra ATS During their investigation they discovered four more NEET students hall tickets most of which belonged to students from MaharashtraAdditionally a parent who had paid the gang through a bank account last year came to the notice of the police The accused reportedly took money from this parent promising to assist with medical admissions but failed to fulfil their promiseldquoMonetary transactions have been identified and the money trails are being verified to determine who received what amount It is difficult to disclose the exact amounts they charged as it varied based on the demands from students and parents said a Maharashtra police officer speaking on the condition of anonymity The officials have also found that the four accused who have been booked by the Latur police have Gunde as their common contact ldquoAs of now it appears that he is the common link amongst all other accused including the teachers who have been arrestedrdquo the officer saidGunde who is a resident of Sangli and currently works with an automobile company in Gurgaon was also found in touch with several people in Bihar who are suspected to be NEET UG aspirants or the local agents involved in the leak case The Bihar links came during the initial probe of Maharashtra ATS and the officials are trying to verify from the local police but the case is already being taken over by the CBI ldquoWe have found some contacts and WhatsApp chats which state that Gangadhar was in touch with some people in Bihar We are yet to ascertain if they are agents or NEETUG aspirantsrdquo said an officerAccording to sources the Maharashtra ATS initially found eight NEET students hall tickets on the WhatsApp accounts of arrested teachers Jalil Pathan and Sanjay Jadhav The Latur police have since discovered four more hall tickets from the accused after their arrest bringing the total to twelve The state police are also investigating other Grade C and Grade B exam hall tickets found in the possession of the accused ldquoIt appears that the accused are involved in malpractices related to local state government exams and we are verifying thisrdquo the officer addedThe police have arrested two teachers and two other accused including Gangadhar and the ITI instructor Iranna Kongalwar remains at large Additionally the police have questioned two more individuals in this case They are now contacting the students and parents whose hall tickets were found with the accusedNEETPG exam delay makes MBBS students anxiousEven as the medical exam board announced on Tuesday that the dates for the NEETPG exam would be declared next week MBBS doctors are navigating a fog of uncertainty Many completed their internships a couple of months ago and were set to appear for the exam expecting to join the workforce as resident doctors in the near futureDr Zeeshan Bagwan an Amravati resident who was interning at Nair Hospital said he was in Kopargaon with his family of five for his exam a day prior only for the exam to be cancelled the next day ldquoThere were about 20 people from just Nair who had to travel elsewhere as like me they werenrsquot allotted Mumbai which was their first preferencerdquoldquoWe have one year of bond service ahead If we are told immediately when the exam is say if it is next month then I wonrsquot sign up for bond service right now If it is five months later then I can at least start my fivemonth bond and then continue the remaining seven months after PGrdquo he said Another aspirant Dr Abdullah Ansari a Mumbai resident said the entire incident has taken a toll on him He was allotted a centre 25 km ahead of Nagpur city ldquoI have been preparing for this exam since my second year which was in 20192020 I completed my compulsory internship from Nair in May during and after which I was again preparing for NEETrdquoHe said he has applied for his permanent registration but even that is taking time to arrive ldquoIt should have arrived in a week but it looks like it will come after a monthrdquo he said Furthermore he also flagged the uncertainty in the declaration of the results after the exam ldquoEven if there is no controversy and the results are on time with Maratha reservation in the background there will likely be some scenario where the counselling is put on holdrdquo Dr Ansari saidBMC MARD president Dr Gaurav Naik who works at KEM Hospital said the move has the potential to hamper patient care ldquoDelays pose a risk that we will be one batch short of resident doctorsrdquo he said ldquoThis is not the first time the exam has been postponed A similar case happened in 2021 a night before the exam and we were told it was because of COVID19 This exam used to happen around March or Aprilrdquo Eshan Kalyanikar