A half-shuttered house with lights and fans left on – in a posh housing society in Maharashtra’s Latur – and two haphazardly parked scooters are all that can be seen at the home of Iranna Kongalwar, one of many named by law enforcement agencies probing the leak of NEET-UG question papers.
NDTV visited the house Wednesday but, from the way some lights were still left on and some windows open, while others were closed, it appeared Kongalwar and his family left in a hurry.
The visuals from the housing estate paint a pleasant picture; a wide, red tile-lined driveway with plenty of greenery and a row of neatly white-washed houses with cars and bikes parked by each.
House No 19, Kongalwar’s home, has a well-maintained front yard, but the flickering light over the front door, still on in the middle of the day, is the first clue that nobody is at home.
There is a row of potted plants on the right, two scooters – a white Hero Pleasure and a black Honda Activa – parked outside and a bicycle leaning against the corner wall.
Next to the door there is a shoe rack filled with sneakers and slippers. One pair, black leather, leans against the front steps.
The front window is open and past the grill lies a gloomy interior, enlivened only by a dull pink wall on the far side.
Throughout NDTV’s visit there seemed to be no movement from inside the house.
In fact, a neighbour told NDTV Kongalwar and his family – his wife, son, and two daughters, one of whom failed the NEET, the entrance exam for medical courses, thrice – fled Saturday morning.
Kongalwar – a teacher at an institute in Nanded, about 130 km from Latur – was named in a complaint filed by local police on Monday. He faces charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy.
The cops have identified two others – Sanjay Tukaram Jadhav and Jalil Umarkhan Pathan.
Like Kongalwar, they were teachers who ran coaching centres; theirs was in Latur.
READ | Bihar, Maharashtra, Now Delhi Link In NEET Paper Leak Case
Police found NEET admit cards and recovered WhatsApp chats from their phones; they had been in contact with students and a Delhi agent who helped contact those willing to pay for exam ‘success’.
Across the country the CBI is leading a wide-ranging investigation into the leaked question papers, both for NEET-UG and UGC-NET, which decides professorial appointments to colleges.
Multiple arrests have been made in connection with this case, beginning with the four in Bihar, including Anurag Yadav, one of the NEET candidates whose scorecard revealed quite the story.
Yadav, who was prepping in the coaching hub of Rajasthan’s Kota, scored only 185 of 720.
READ | 85 In Physics, 5 In Chemistry: Arrested NEET Aspirant’s Scores
But a look at individual subject scores threw up a bizarre mismatch; he got 85.8 percentile in physics and 51 percentile in biology, but his chemistry was just five percentile. The 22-year-old confessed to getting the questions a day before, but apparently didn’t get time to memorise all the answers.
Other arrested include Saneev Mukhiya from Bihar, who appears to be mastermind.
READ | Who is Sanjeev Mukhiya, Alleged NEET Paper Leak Mastermind
He allegedly ran a ‘solver gang’ with Ravi Attri, who was arrested in a different case, one involving the leak of a question paper for the Uttar Pradesh Police Constable exam.
The CBI was tasked with the overall probe into the NEET paper leak case on Saturday.
The newly elected BJP coalition government – prepping for a fierce attack by the opposition as the first Parliament session gets underway – has vowed to protect students’ interest.
READ | “Forming Committee, Won’t Spare Anyone”: Minister On Exams Row
The government has also operationalised a stringent law that aims to curb malpractices and irregularities in competitive examinations. A maximum jail term of 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 1 crore for offenders are some of the tough measures under the law.
The controversy erupted after an unusually high number of students scored a perfect 720 in the NEET-UG exam. Initially attributed to grace marks due to a faulty question and logistical issues, subsequent investigations suggested the exam paper had been leaked to select candidates a day before the exam.
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