The Central Bureau of Investigation on Sunday reportedly arrested the owner of a private school in Godhra, Gujarat, in connection with alleged malpractices in the NEET-UG examination.
According to PTI report, Dixit Patel, owner of Jay Jalaram School situated near Godhra in Panchmahal district, where the exam was conducted, was arrested in the early hours of his residence, public prosecutor Rakesh Thakor said.
He added that the CBI is taking Patel to Ahmedabad for his remand, PTI reported.
“As the Gujarat government handed over the case to the CBI, a CBI team will present him (Dixit Patel) before a designated court in Ahmedabad for his remand,” Thakor told PTI.
Jay Jalaram School was one of the designated centres where the NEET-UG examination was conducted on May 5.
Patel is reportedly the sixth person arrested in this case, in which the accused allegedly demanded Rs 10 lakh from candidates to help them clear the test.
Earlier on Saturday, a court remanded four accused arrested in connection with alleged malpractices in NEET-UG held in a school near Godhra in Gujarat in CBI custody till July 2. Gujarat Police had arrested five people last month in the case.
Of them, the Central Bureau of Investigation sought custody of schoolteacher Tushar Bhatt, Jay Jalaram school principal, Purushottam Sharma, and middlemen Vibhor Anand and Arif Vohra.
The agency did not seek remand of educational consultant Parsuram Roy, a fifth accused.
Meanwhile, in a major crackdown, the Karnataka Police on Saturday arrested Auranganda Arvind Kumar alias Aditya Deshmukh, who was allegedly running a NEET counseling center in Sakinaka area and was absconding after leaving the premises. Kumar was arrested from Market Yard locality in Belgaum district of Karnataka.
Advay’s Vidya Pravesh Margdarshak Private Ltd., which had its office at Sakinaka, No. 1, Aerocity Corporate Park, had shut down its NEET-UG counselling operations amid a CBI probe. The matter came to light when employees reported for work on Friday and found the counselling centre had been abruptly shut down. They approached the police to lodge a written complaint.
(with contributions from PTI)
