NEET Scam : Chairman of Jai Jalaram Schools and four others remanded in CBI custody

Godhra, Gujarat : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested the chairman of Jai Jalaram Schools in Godhra, Gujarat in NEET-UG exam malpractice case. Dixit Patel, accused of extorting candidates, is the fifth person held in the case and that he was remanded in four day custody on Monday. 

Dixit Patel, chairman of Jai Jalaram School, Godhra and prime suspect in NEET Scam was presented before the CBI court at Circuit House in Ahmedabad on Monday by the CBI officers. The CBI court judge remanded Patel and five others in the four days of CBI custody for further investigations. 

A large number of students getting full marks in NEET, a competitive examination for medical admissions, led to protests by students all over the country over the possibility of a scam in the examination. Following the protests, a police investigation was conducted during May and the NEET scam was unearthed at the Jai Jalaram school’s NEET centre at Godhra, Gujarat. 

The Godhra police had arrested four accused, whose remand was earlier accepted by the Godhra court. After that, the government handed over the investigation of this case to the CBI.

Notably, a complaint was registered against the accused under sections 406, 409, 420, 120B 34 and 201 of the IPC and under sections 7(A) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act at Godhra Taluka Police Station. Arif Vohra, Purushottam Sharma, Vibhor Prasad and Tushar Bhatt were arrested on May 12 and they were granted 11 days remand, but all the accused were in judicial custody, after which four days remand was granted to CBI.

Thousands of candidates living 1000 km away chose the centre in Godhra and the school management helped the accused students to write the papers. The students are from UP, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Odisha. Purushottam and Tushar Bhatt helped the selected students at the exam centre. The case has country-wide connections, with links to Rajasthan, Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand and Delhi.

However, the accused’s counsel told the CBI court that handing over the investigation to the CBI does not require remand. Police remand cannot be granted after 15 days of arrest, it is a violation of the rights of the person. 

It must be noted that the Godhra police had seized Rs.7 lakhs in cash and cheques worth 2.30 crores were recovered from accused Purushottam’s car.