Chennai: The NEET impersonation issue is getting bigger and murkier each passing day. A special team of police has arrested a man, who is believed to be a key agent, in connection with the case. According to sources, Kerala native George Joseph, who ran a coaching centre in Thiruvananthapuram, was arrested.
He allegedly accepted Rs 20 lakh from K V Udit Suryas father Dr Venkatesan, who works at the Government Stanley Medical College and Hospital, and arranged a person to write the NEET exam on behalf of Udit. Meanwhile, the doctor’s family, which was arrested in Tirupati a couple of days ago, has told the police that they were devastated with the turn of events and attempted suicide while they were in hiding.
During interrogation, Udits parents confessed to the CB-CID police and gave a statement that they were willing to spend any amount of money to get a doctors degree for their son. Udits father Venkatesan sought the help of two persons-a middleman and another broker from Mumbai to arrange an impostor. He said that he shelled out Rs 20 lakh.
When the incident came to light, the family went missing during which they reportedly attempted suicide. The CB-CID recorded and videographed the statements of Udit and Venkatesan. It is said that Venkatesan found from the NEET coaching centre that Udit had not done well in the mock tests they conducted and the centre told him to hire an impersonator.
The CB-CID let go of Udits mother Kayalvizhi while the father-son duo will be remanded later. The fraud activity was found after the administration of Theni Medical College conducted an internal verification of documents of first-year students after a tip that an impostor bagged an MBBS seat. Dean of Theni Medical College filed a complaint against Udit and submitted a report of the probe to the Directorate of Medical Education (DME).
An FIR against Udit contains sections 120(B) (Criminal conspiracy), 419 (Cheating by personation) and 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code, sections 468 (Forgery) and 471 (Using a forged document).
The CB-CID police arrested Udit and his family from a hotel in Tirupati after they went missing from their house in the city. They are yet to identify who wrote the exam on behalf of Udit. Meanwhile, officials have launched a detailed inquiry to find out whether there are any other persons who obtained MBBS admission through fraudulent ways.