Neet aspirant’s arrest from Bihar: Accused had cheated in two earlier exams

Sources told The Indian Express that Jan Mehta alias Rajeev Ranjan was arrested in 2006 for cheating in the JBT (Junior Basic Training) entrance examination held in Delhi Cantt. (Representational)

Days after a 31-year-old postgraduate student pursuing radiology from Patna Medical College was arrested by Delhi Police for allegedly cheating during the December 2016 National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET), police said the accused has been involved in two other cheating cases in Delhi and Haryana. Sources told The Indian Express that Jan Mehta alias Rajeev Ranjan was arrested in 2006 for cheating in the JBT (Junior Basic Training) entrance examination held in Delhi Cantt.

He, along with four others, were named in the FIR registered at Delhi Cantt police station. Sources said Mehta secured the 386th rank in the exam. He is also accused of cheating during a competitive examination held in Rohtak in 2015. Confirming the cases, Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) Rajesh Deo said police will request the court to extend his custody, which ends on Monday.

On October 24, a crime branch team arrested Ranjan from Patna, in a joint operation with Bihar police. “The accused took the exam at the Greater Noida centre. His name cropped up during questioning of the arrested accused, who helped aspirants cheat,” police sources said. They added that the alleged cheating took place at two examination centres — in Chandigarh and Greater Noida. NEET is held to admit students to postgraduate medical courses.

Sources said Mehta, who hails from Mahdepura in Bihar, was also one of the organisers in the NEET paper leak case. During questioning, sources claimed he named three associates from Bihar who are now being tracked by police. During investigation, police found evidence such as photos of questions sent by aspirants to those who were helping them cheat.

“Mehta had used an app which was created for the exam. Solved exam papers were sent back to the aspirants via the app,” sources said. “As per CCTV footage collected from both centres, police found that some students were using their mobile phones in the last 45 minutes of the exam — minutes after they received solved answers,” sources claimed, adding that some of these students got admission in prominent medical colleges across the country.