Panchmahal: The Godhra police have filed a case against a schoolteacher and two others for allegedly attempting to assist six NEET-UG candidates by offering to solve their papers in exchange for Rs 10 lakh each.

The scheme was uncovered after the district collector received a tip-off that malpractice was occurring at Jay Jalaram School in Godhra, designated as a NEET-UG exam center. Tushar Bhatt, a physics teacher and deputy superintendent at the center, has been booked, along with Parsuram Roy and Arif Vora. Rs 7 lakh in cash was recovered from Bhatt’s car, believed to be an advance payment from Vora to ensure a candidate’s placement on the merit list.

A team consisting of the district additional collector and district education officer found a list of 16 candidates, including their names, roll numbers, and exam centers, on Bhatt’s phone, sent by co-accused Roy via WhatsApp. Bhatt admitted that six candidates from the list were promised Rs 10 lakh each to have their papers solved. One aspirant had already paid Rs 7 lakh upfront, which was confiscated by authorities.

According to the FIR filed at the Godhra taluka police station based on a complaint from the district education officer, an agreement was made between the accused and some NEET-UG aspirants. The aspirants were instructed to leave unanswered questions they didn’t know during the exam, with plans to fill in the answers later when the papers were collected.

All three accused have been booked for criminal breach of trust, cheating, and criminal conspiracy. Further investigation is ongoing. DeshGujarat