Medical seat racket: Scam kingpin mined data of 20 lakh NEET aspirants

VADODARA: Investigations into the medical seat racket have revealed that the kingpin had data of about 20 lakh students who appeared for the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test (NEET) in the last couple of years.
Cybercrime sleuths in Vadodara said that accused Prem Prakash Vidhyarthi had illegally sourced the data from a private agency in Delhi.
"It is a matter of concern. He was planning a big scam. A scamster had amassed NEET score records, Class 12 marks and contact numbers of nearly 20 lakh students aspiring to get medical seats. Vidhyarthi spent a lot of money in sourcing this data which is private and confidential," Hardik Makadia, ACP (cybercrime) told TOI.
"During his interrogation, Vidhyarthi said that he had sourced the data from an agency in Delhi that in turn got it from a Pune agency. We are now inquiring about these agencies and how they got hold of the students' data. The data was leaked and it is a clear breach of privacy," Makadia said.
Vidhyarthi and his gang targetted students with low marks in NEET.
Vidhyarthi was running a racket wherein his gang used to make phone calls to the students who got low marks in NEET or were aspiring to get admission in medical colleges.
He used to offer medical seats in reputed medical colleges for a high fee. “Vidhyarthi rented offices in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh and also made websites of two popular medical colleges. Those showing interest in paying lakhs to get a medical seat for their child were shown the website or invited to the office.
Once the parents paid the fees, the gang used to shut the offices as well as the websites and disappear,” Makadia added. On Sunday, the cybercrime sleuths arrested another accused Anand Tiwari who helped Vidhyarthi in scouting for the students as well as leasing properties.
While Vidhyarthi has over 10 cases of cheating registered against him in UP and Delhi, Tiwari too has spent 10 years in jail for ferrying drugs. Duo met in Gorakhpur jail.