An MBBS aspirant and her father are being questioned by Chennai police after they tried to secure a medical seat by forging the scorecard of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and the provisional rank list. According to reports, on November 30, the aspirant who had scored only 27 marks in NEET UG 2020 reached the counselling centre in Chennai with her father. At the centre, she allegedly claimed to be another candidate who had scored 610 marks in NEET and told the authorities that she had not received her call for counselling. She also submitted a rank list with the photo and roll number of herself against 610 marks.
The authorities, while verifying her credentials, discovered that the aspirant had scored low marks in NEET and thus she wasn’t called for counselling. A probe into the issue also revealed that the aspirant had forged her scorecard to reflect higher marks in NEET. The original candidate against whose name the aspirant had forged her identity had already opted for a medical seat.
The authorities then lodged an official complaint with the Periamet police station against the candidate and her father, who is a dentist from Ramanathapuram district. An FIR was registered under sections 419 (Punishment for cheating by personation), 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 464 (Making a false document), 465 (Forgery), 468 (Forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 471 (Using as genuine a forged document) of the Indian Penal Code. A special team has been formed to probe into the matter and the team has gone to Ramanathapuram to question the father-daughter duo.
In 2019, a NEET impersonation scam came out in the open in which at least 19 aspirants were suspected to have hired impersonators to take the entrance exam on their behalf. At least four students and two others were arrested by the CB-CID in connection with the case. The scam came to light when a man named Ashok Krishnan sent two emails to the Dean of Theni government medical college alleging that a first-year MBBS student in the college had hired an impersonator to write NEET on his behalf. The Dean conducted an internal inquiry and then also filed a police complaint on the matter. The case was then transferred to the CB-CID which arrested some students and their parents who were allegedly involved in the scam.