NEWS TODAY 05.05.2026

 

Not A NEET End:

Not A NEET End: Kingpin Doctor Held In Exam Racket, 18 Students Rescued Three Others In Net; Students Paid ₹20-30 Lakh For Seat, Were Kept In Delhi Hotels 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 05.05.2026

New Delhi : The crime branch has busted a syndicate that allegedly duped NEET aspirants and took Rs 20-30 lakh each from their guardians by promising guaranteed MBBS admissions. A doctor, the alleged kingpin, is among the four persons arrested in the case. The gang had charged the amount as donations for admission under management and other quotas, said police. According to DCP (crime) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, the raids also resulted in the rescue of 18 students, including minors, who were trapped by the gang and lodged in different hotels in Delhi-NCR. Police started investigating the scam after receiving a lead from Surat police commissioner Anupam Singh Gahlaut about a mobile number linked to suspicious NEET brokering activities in Delhi. The exam was scheduled on May 3. “Given the proximity to the exam date, a technical surveillance operation was launched and the number was traced to Mahipalpur Extension, following which a team began an extensive search operation," Yadav said. 

Nearly 100 hotels in south-west Delhi’s Mahipalpur were checked before the trail led police to a hotel where four suspects from Gujarat were staying, including Vinod Bhai Bhikha Bhai Patel, identified as a key recruiter. Complainants present at the spot told police that the accused had already collected large sums, original classes X and XII certificates, and signed blank cheques as "collateral" in exchange for promised medical seats. Investigators learnt that several students had been taken away from their guardians to an undisclosed location on the pretext of being given "important" or leaked exam questions. Police used technical inputs to lay a trap near a hospital in Ghaziabad, where three students were rescued and Santosh Kumar Jaiswal was arrested. 

Further raids at a flat in Ghaziabad led to the rescue of 15 more students, some minors, who were to appear for NEET the next day. After counselling, all were allowed to sit for the examination. The other two accused, Sant Pratap Singh and Dr Akhlaq Alam, were apprehended from the flat. Police found that Jaiswal, a 50-year-old graduate from Bihar who ran a pathology lab, was involved in designing the fraud. Dr Alam (25), who completed his MBBS from Kyrgyzstan and is preparing for the screening test to practise in India, handled the academic facade by compiling a 149page set of "special questions" drawn from previous years’ papers and coaching material to make them appear authentic. Singh, a 59-year-old BTech graduate and property dealer with holdings in Ghaziabad and Pune, arranged logistics, including flats where students were housed and deals were finalised. Patel, a 52-year-old broker from Surat, sourced aspirants and their families, convincing them to pay. 

Police have seized the 149-page document, three signed blank cheques and other evidence. A case has been registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for cheating and conspiracy. The arrested accused are in custody and police are trying to identify other middlemen.

Vijay Called, TN Voters Went Home In Droves

Vijay Called, TN Voters Went Home In Droves 

DANCE of DEMOCRACY 

They Travelled Using Own Money To Witness Turning Point

Meghna.Dhulia@timesofindia.com 05.05.2026

New Delhi : “When Vijay asked people to come and vote, we took it seriously and went,” said a resident of Trilokpuri, capturing the unusual enthusiasm around the actor’s political debut in Tamil Nadu. In a stunning first outing, Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) on Monday surged ahead in the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, challenging the long-standing dominance of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). 

At the time of going to press, TVK was the single largest party. Seen by supporters as a towering screen icon in the league of Rajinikanth, Vijay’s appeal appears to have translated into votes at an unprecedented scale. In east Delhi, migrant voters with roots in Tamil Nadu turned the election into a cross-country exercise. Families spent money, booked tickets weeks in advance and travelled nearly 48 hours by train to vote. Some even flew when trains were unavailable. A few made quick turnarounds, voting one day and returning the next, all at their own expense. 

For many, it was their first time making the journey to vote, driven by a call for change. The remarkable rise of TVK is not just about numbers, but about the emotional pull that travelled far beyond the state’s borders. In pockets like Trilokpuri, where, as per residents, thousands trace their roots to TN, the election became a collective mission. Entire families travelled together, some counting every vote in the household. “All of us went, including my parents and siblings. There were six votes in our family. One of my relatives even took a flight as he could not book a train ticket,” said Tamil Selvi, who works as a domestic help in nearby Mayur Vihar Phase 1. For many, the decision was shaped by a sense of urgency and dissatisfaction. Selvi pointed to recent incidents of unrest in the state, saying people felt “there isn’t that care anymore” and that it was time for change. 

The message from Vijay’s campaign — that “every vote matters” — resonated with the people. “He said we shouldn’t waste our vote,” she recalled, explaining why even those who had never voted before chose to travel. For many like Selvi, support for Vijay did not begin with politics, but with years of watching him on screen, following his films and celebrating his releases, while living far from Tamil Nadu. “He is our favourite. We watch his movies in theatres whenever they release in Delhi. My favourite is Sarkar ,” she said. Vinod, another resident who works at a bank in Delhi and is from Tamil Nadu’s Veerapuram, estimated that 200250 people from Trilokpuri alone made the trip. The motivation, he said, was clear — after years of dominance by two major parties, people wanted an alternative. Echoing similar sentiments about the scale of participation, Manju, another resident, said the turnout went far beyond just Delhibased voters.

 “It wasn’t limited to people in Delhi. Many, including first-time voters, travelled from outside as well,” she said. Vinod said everyday concerns also drove participation. Issues with documentation and accessing services back home had lingered, and voters expressed hope that a new govt might address them. “People are expecting things will improve now,” he said. TVK’s performance places it among a rare set of parties such as AAP and AGP that made rapid electoral breakthroughs. 

The party had generated significant buzz from the outset. But beyond the buzz, it is the image of voters travelling across states that defines this moment. For them, this was about being part of what they see as a turning point back home.

Blockbuster debut! Vijay TN’s Gennayagan

Blockbuster debut! Vijay TN’s Gennayagan 

Arun.Ram@timesofindia.com 05.05.2026

MGR, the biggest crossover star from cinema to Tamil Nadu politics, never drank or smoked on screen. He was fair complexioned. For someone who claims to be the next MGR in Tamil Nadu politics, Vijay did – on screen – everything that MGR didn’t: he played an alcoholic professor, a gangster, and a morally conflicted man. Yet, he seems to be on the way to becoming the next MGR in politics. 

Vijay was a contrarian through his campaign: he avoided media interviews and did fewer public shows than Chief minister M K Stalin and opposition leader Edappadi K Palaniswami. On the last day of the campaign, he blew a whistle (his party symbol) and offered a quid pro quo: “Give me one thing I ask – your vote – and I will give you all you ask for five years.” 

When everyone said TVK lacked the organisational strength to match the grassroots connect the Dravidian giants enjoyed, Vijay smirked – and got his social media operators to go full steam. When DMK and AIADMK churned out promos that took potshots at each other and glorified their respective leaders, TVK spin doctors flooded social media with videos of children prodding their parents and grandparents to vote for Vijay. 

He proved a 5.5 inch screen is good enough to reach 5.7 crore voters across 234 constituencies. A TOI analysis of the last week of campaigning found that Vijay spoke the least at road shows (35 minutes), while Stalin (356 minutes) and EPS (806) waxed eloquent. When Stalin made 18 speeches and EPS 21, Vijay had spoken just twice. Yet, when we asked an AI tool to rate their appeal based on some 50,000 words they had spoken, Vijay scored better (8 out of 10) than EPS (7.7) and almost caught up with Stalin (8.6). 

Vijay’s timing is perfect too. Rajinikanth missed the bus in the mid-1990s, Vijayakanth entered politics in 2005 when M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa were at the peak of their careers. Kamal Haasan, whose appeal was never ‘mass’, fizzled out. Vijay came when Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa had vacated the stage, and EPS was struggling to give a tough fight to Stalin. In the collective public psyche, DMK deserved a worthy rival –and Vijay fit the bill. MGR became chief minister five years after founding AIADMK. Vijay made it in two years. From the ruins of a political duopoly, a superstar has been born