Madurai: A day after Abhishek, a student from Himachal Pradesh, was arrested for allegedly securing admission at Madurai AIIMS by providing a fake NEET certificate, the facility director believes that he has been cheated by some person in North India.
M. Hanumantha Rao, Executive Director and CEO, of AIIMS Madurai told ETV Bharat, "The mistake was found by the AIIMS management when Abhishek, a student from Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, applied for MBBS first-year admission with a fake NEET score certificate."
"The Ramanathapuram police were informed and the student has now been arrested. Although this is an unexpected incident, we feel that Abhishek may have been cheated by some wrong person from North India," he said.
"Indian students applying for medical courses should use the official website for the extension. If not, you may end up with such a disappointment due to some wrong settings. It is very important to ensure that the NEET score certificate and the allotment letter are original," he said.
Hanumantha further said, "Not only the students but also their parents should be aware about such wrongful agencies. They should ensure that they download their certificates properly from the official websites and approach the allotted medical colleges based on that. Students should not indulge in such wrongful activities in future. I will say that as my advice."
According to the FIR given by the Kenikarai police, "22-year-old Abhishek, who was born in Himachal Pradesh and completed his schooling in Haryana, had already failed the NEET twice. This year, he appeared for the NEET again. Claiming that he passed it, he came to Ramanathapuram with his father to join AIIMS Medical College. Then he showed his score certificate to the medical administrators there through his cell phone. It was mentioned that he has secured 689 marks out of 720 and secured 4392nd rank in the country."
Sources said that Abhishek's name was not included in the third round list of students sent by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and. the certificate produced by the student did not bear the signature of NTA.
Suspicious, the administrators checked the student's registration number and e-mail, they added.
It has been revealed that Abhishek scored 60 out of 720 marks in the NEET exam and got an all-India rank of 2 lakh 34 thousand 349. It is also revealed that this original certificate was downloaded from the official page and edited.
Following this, Kenikarai police have registered a case under sections 336(2), 336(3), and 336(4) of the Information Technology Act 2000 and are probing the matter.
