NEET solvers’ gang busted; woman, daughter arrested

NEET solvers’ gang busted; woman, daughter arrested

Rajeev.Dikshit@timesgroup.com

Varanasi:14.09.2021  TOI Lucknow

Varanasi police claimed to have busted a solvers’ gang during NEET exam with the arrest of a woman and her daughter, who’s a BDS-II student of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) on Sunday.

Police said involvement of a KGMU doctor in the gang has also come to light while a Patna-based person who is known by initials PK is its leader. NEET authorities have been alerted about the gang, which has a network in north-east region.

Commissioner of police A Satish Ganesh said, “Acting on a tip-off the cops of crime branch raided a NEET exam centre at St Francis Xavier School in Sona Talab area under the limits of Sarnath police station in afternoon session on Sunday while ensuring that candidates were not disturbed during the raid. The crime branch cops caught Juli Kumari, who was appearing in the exam in the name of Heena Biswas.”

Solvers’ gang is operated by its mastermind from Patna

The cops also nabbed Juli’s mother Babita Devi of Patna. However, the solvers’ gang member Vikas Kumar Mahto of Khagadia district, who was accompanying Babita and Juli, managed to escape.

A fake Aadhaar card, answer sheet of NEET exam-2021, admit card, photograph, two mobile phones and other documents were recovered from them. An FIR was lodged under section 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (fraudulently or dishonestly uses as genuine any document which he knows or has reason to believe to be a forged document)and 34 (criminal act is done by several persons in furtherance of the common intention) of IPC against them. During interrogation, Juli divulged that Mahto, who had become friend of her brother Abhay Kushwaha during his stay in Patna for the preparations of competitive examination, had come with a proposal of paying Rs 5 lakhs if she agreed to appear in NEET exam in place of other girl to qualify it. Babita said that she fell in trap and convinced Juli, who had taken admission in BDS at BHU after qualifying NEET two years ago, to appear in the exam. Babita said that she had received Rs 50,000 in advance.

The CP said that the arrested woman and her daughter have divulged that the solvers’ gang is run by its mastermind known as PK from Patna. They also informed that PK rarely used phones and preferred to communicate through courier and travel by trains only. “After PK gets contracts from aspirants, his accomplices arrange the solvers,” said CP, mentioning that more details about the gang are being made.