Dixit Patel, the Jay Jalaram Schools’ chairman, was arrested on Sunday by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is looking into the allegations of fraud during the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) at the Jay Jalaram School in Godhra, Gujarat, on May 5.
The CBI has sought that Dixit Patel be placed under custody by the Panchmahal district court on Sunday. The argument was turned down by the court, which said that the Special CBI Court should handle the matter. As a result, the CBI will now approach the Ahmedabad Special CBI Court.
Dixit Patel was taken into custody by the CBI late on Saturday. This came shortly after four other accused—Tushar Bhatt, Purshottam Sharma, Vibhor Anand, and Arif Vora—were given a four-day remand by the Panchmahal district court. Following a police complaint filed on May 8 by the Panchmahal District Education Officer, they were first arrested by the Godhra Taluka police station.
Dixit Patel, the chairman of Jay Jalaram Schools, gave a statement to the CBI on June 27. The two trust-run centres—one in Padal (Thermal) in the Kheda district and the other in Parvadi in Godhra—were visited by the CBI.
Panchmahal officials said that Dixit Patel was taken into custody by the CBI late on Saturday night and had his medical examination at Godhra Civil Hospital. Patel is being questioned by the CBI at the Godhra Circuit House on four separate allegations of misconduct.
The CBI, which is interrogating four accused at the Godhra Circuit House, suspects Patel of being involved in malpractice and having contact with the other accused. In the Godhra Centre’s NEET-UG malpractice case, Patel is the sixth individual to be taken into custody. The CBI has not sought custody of the fifth arrested accused, Parshuram Roy, an immigration agent and owner of Roy Overseas.
On Thursday, the CBI recorded statements from at least six local students in Gujarat who were contacting the accused for malpractice in the NEET exam. In the Kheda district, the CBI also obtained statements from Dixit Patel, the owner of the school, and other staff at the Godhra and Padal locations.
A special CBI team went to two private schools on Wednesday in order to look into the claims of anomalies in the May 5 NEET-UG examination. This test is a national entrance exam for undergraduate medical programmes, administered by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
The team visited Jay Jalaram School in Parvadi village, Godhra, and another school in Padal, Kheda district, approximately 115 kilometres from Godhra. Dixit Patel is the owner of both institutions, which served as NEET-UG test centres.
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