Pune, A director of a local coaching centre on Wednesday claimed Tejas Shah, a physics teacher arrested by the CBI probing the NEET UG paper leak case, had contacted Manisha Havaldar, a senior physics faculty and an accused, to seek clarification on certain topics in his individual capacity.
The CBI on Tuesday arrested Shah, a physics teacher at Dr Abhang Prabhu Medical Academy (APMA).
According to the investigating agency, Shah allegedly received leaked physics questions from Havaldar, who has been arrested.
“Tejas Shah is a junior physics faculty member at the institute. He had approached Havaldar, a senior faculty member, in his individual capacity to seek clarification on certain topics in physics, including whether some chapters were part of the NEET syllabus,” Prof Sachin Haldavnekar, one of the directors of the academy, told reporters.
Asked about Rs 20,000 allegedly being paid to Havaldar by Shah, he said it was towards “consultancy charges for seeking expert advice”.
“How can questions be sold for mere Rs 20,000?” he asked.
Haldavnekar further said the CBI might have arrested Shah based on certain chats.
“We have full faith in the judiciary and the investigation being conducted by the CBI. We would also like to clarify that Shah’s interaction with Havaldar was purely in his personal capacity, and the institute had no role in it,” he said, adding that full cooperation is being extended to the CBI.
So far, 13 individuals have been arrested in the paper leak case from Delhi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Nasik, Pune, Latur and Ahliyanagar.
On May 12, the National Testing Agency (NTA) cancelled the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET, held on May 3 for medical admissions amid allegations of paper leak. A re-examination has been scheduled for June 21.
The CBI registered the case on the same day based on a written complaint by the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education.
The NEET was conducted on May 3 across 551 Indian cities and at 14 overseas centres. Nearly 23 lakh candidates had registered for the test, which was administered by the NTA.
Meanwhile, the Latur unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has welcomed the ongoing investigation.
The IMA stated that it won’t support or shield any doctor suspected to be involved in the case or those taken into custody during the investigation.
