Chennai: In a new twist, students and parents who were caught in NEET impersonation case have reportedly claimed that agents involved in the issue issued threats to them over phone.
The NEET impersonation scam which broke out recently found that parents and students used imposters to write the MBBS entrance exam.
Students of both private and government medical colleges were found to have used impersonation mode to get medical seats.
According to sources, parents, who were booked by CB-CID, received threats from agents and have submitted the audio files to the investigating team. The police have initiated a search for two agents who called the parents.
It is alleged that the unidentified middlemen wanted the parents to refrain from giving any further details and to not disclose the amount taken by the agents.
The issue came to light with the arrest of K V Udit Surya who was allotted an MBBS seat in Theni Medical College. His father Dr Venkatesan found that Udit performed poorly in a mock test at a NEET coaching centre and decided to employ an imposter to write the exam for him.
Following the arrest of the duo, CB-CID found other students including Praveen of SRM Medical college and his father Saravanan, Rahul of Balaji Medical college and his father Davidson, Irfan of Dharmapuri Medical College and his father Dr Mohammed Shafi.
Sources said, Shafi introduced the brokers to the rest of them. Unconfirmed reports suggest that brokers George Joseph, Vedachalam and Rasheed have been arrested by the CB-CID. George Joseph, an agent from Thiruvananthapuram, is said to have helped Udit arrange a proxy candidate and is said to have taken Rs 20 lakh from Dr Venkatesan.
It is also said that on 9 October, a team from the Medical Council of India (MCI) would come to the city to meet State Health Secretary, Beela Rajesh. Investigations are underway to find if the fraud has taken place in other States.