CBI arrests three for promising admissions to NEET-UG exam candidates

The CBI on Tuesday arrested three persons on charge of promising NEET (UG) 2018 exam candidates about admissions in medical and dental courses in government and private colleges.

The agency also raided residential and office premises of the accused at Khurja in Uttar Pradesh, Ludhiana and Delhi and seized documents, includign original educational certificates, admit cards of prospective NEET candidates, rubber stamps of educational institutions and several filled-up cheques for amounts ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 35 lakh.

The arrested persons -- Mohit Kumar, Manoj Sikka and Ashwani Tomar -- were produced at the Tis Hazari court here which sent them to CBI custody till Friday.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) action comes after it filed an FIR on Sunday against Delhi-based Akruti Education owners Ashwani Tomar and Arti Tomar, along with Mohit Kumar, an alleged tout from Uttar Pradesh, and Manoj Sikka, owner of a Punjab-based consultancy agency, and some unidentified persons on charges of criminal conspiracy and cheating.

The FIR was filed on a complaint from CBSE's (Central Board of Secondary Education) National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Director Sanyam Bhardwaj.

The CBI said the actions of the accused could lead to sabotage of the NEET examination system.

Mohit Kumar acted as the tout by promising NEET candidates admissions in medical and dental courses in government and private colleges across India, the FIR said.

Others named in the FIR helped candidates qualify the NEET exam, said the CBI, adding that the role of CBSE officials would also be probed.

More than 13 lakh candidates appreared in NEET undergraduate exam on Sunday.

--IANS

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