Mumbai: The CBI has arrested two men, Sandeep Jawahar Shah and Salim Patel, for allegedly running a racket that targeted parents of NEET aspirants, promising to boost exam scores in exchange for Rs 90 lakh. Both accused have been remanded to CBI custody till Monday.
According to the CBI case, officials posed as parents and met the accused Shah at a five-star hotel in Lower Parel. During the meeting, Shah allegedly demanded Rs 90 lakh, later negotiating it down to Rs 87.5 lakh, promising to influence National Testing Agency (NTA) officials to secure desired scores in the NEET-UG 2025 exam.
Further investigation revealed involvement of Salim Patel and Javed Ali Patel who had earlier accepted part payment of Rs 25 lakh on Tuesday through hawala channel. They had also accepted payments from other parents as well.
When confronted, Salim had been giving evasive answers and claimed that the said meeting was arranged by one Rajiv Sinha, who is yet to be traced. The agency has recovered several documents of many other candidates, who might have paid the accused to get their marks manipulated.
