Ludhiana man, two others arrested by CBI for alleged NEET irregularities

NEW DELHI/LUDHIANA: The CBI is investigating whether the May 6 NEET paper was leaked after it arrested three people during raids in Delhi, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in a case of alleged irregularities in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to undergraduate medical courses.

Acting on a complaint by the NEET director, Dr Sanyam Bhardwaj, the CBI is investigating several people who allegedly approached candidates and their parents, promising help in qualifying the NEET, which was held on May 6 and in securing admission to government and private colleges across India.

One of the main accused is Mohit Kumar, a resident of Khurja in Uttar Pradesh. Ludhiana resident Manoj Kumar Sikka and Ashwani Tomar, who runs a private agency named Akruti Education in Delhi’s West Patel Nagar, too were arrested by the agency. Tomar’s wife Arti Tomar has also been named in the CBI FIR, but she is yet to be arrested. Akruti Education, the CBI said, is involved in providing consultancy to students. Kumar and Sikka also run a private consultancy firm in Ludhiana.

Sources said the accused allegedly took amounts ranging from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 35 lakh from the parents of several candidates. The agency recovered original educational certificates, admit cards, bearer cheques, rubber stamps of several colleges and other documents during searches in Delhi, Ludhiana and Khurja on Tuesday.

The CBI is investigating whether the NEET paper was leaked as the accused had promised to help the candidates to qualify this exam. “There is a possibility that the culprits cheated parents and candidates by fake promises and took money from them. But we are probing every angle,” said an officer.

The sources said the role of CBSE officials may also come under the scanner if it is established that the accused were in possession of NEET paper in advance.

CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said, “It is alleged that their acts could lead to sabotage of the examination system.”

In Ludhiana, the police was not informed by the CBI about the raids in the city and about Sikka’s arrest.

Ludhiana police commissioner Dr Sukhchain Singh said the agency doesn’t inform the police when it books a Ludhiana resident and seeks police’s aid only when it needs information. The police has no knowledge about any case filed against Sikka in Ludhiana.

Many persons who run consultancies in Ludhiana said that they haven’t heard about Manoj Sikka or his agency. One of the consultancy owners, on condition of anonymity, said Sikka was not popular in consultancy industry, which is why most of the other consultants don’t know anything about him.