Every year, there are 70,000-odd seats up for grabs for 5-lakh-odd MBBS aspirants. Every year, lakhs of dreams are crushed when the stringent selection process for a noble profession prunes the seemingly-unworthy candidates. When the CB-CID sleuths swooped down on a Trivandrum-based tout on Friday for helping a Chennai boy secure admission to a medical college through fraudulent means, what was called to question was how many such deemed-worthy students were getting ready to take the Hippocratic oath.
George Joseph, who was arrested based on the statements of Udit Suriya and his father V K Venkatesan, was reportedly the recipient of Rs 20 lakh given to arrange for a medico to write the taxing NEET for Suriya. Joseph was true to his word and delivered on his promise. The medico, who wrote the test for Suriya and even attended the counselling, gift-wrapped a medical seat for Suriya at Government Theni Medical College and Hospital.
The forgery would have gone unnoticed were it not for a series of e-mails to the medical college authorities, alleging that the Suriya attending the classes in the institution was not the Suriya who attended the counselling. No sooner had the mail come than the authorities swung into action and found prima facie evidence of impersonation. On September 13, Suriya reportedly surrendered his seat and absconded.
Suriya’s father Venkatesan -- a Casualty Medical Officer at Government Stanley Medical College Hospital in Chennai -- got in touch with Joseph after his son’s coaching institute told him that his ward was not up to scratch. Venkatesan was suspended by the Directorate of Medical Education on Friday for his role in the case. After Joseph’s arrest, the sleuths have realised that they are not dealing with an isolated incident but a well-entrenched network whose tentacles are spread as far as Mumbai and Pune.
“A few coaching centres based in Mumbai and Pune are also under scanner. Moreover, we suspect such deals were struck for students of a particular coaching centre in Trivandrum as well,” a highly-placed source said. Another angle sleuths are probing into is the possibility of question paper leak for a select few.
Joseph is likely to be brought to Theni for interrogation after a transit warrant from the judicial court concerned is obtained. Meanwhile, on Friday, Suriya and Venkatesan were shifted to the Madurai
Central Prison from Theni prison.