Fire at PMCH hostel uncovers piles of cash, NEET PG admit cards, MBBS exam OMR sheets - Police files FIR against accused medico

Patna: A minor fire in a room at the Chanakya Hostel of Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) led to a startling discovery by the Patna Police. Burnt bundles of currency notes worth approximately Rs 2.75 lakh in denominations of ₹100 and ₹500, along with NEET PG admit cards, fake MBBS OMR sheets from Aryabhatta Knowledge University, and a liquor bottle, were recently uncovered.

During the course of an investigation, the Patna police found that Dr Singh, a former postgraduate student of PMCH, illegally occupied the room which recently caught on fire. Although the fire took place in a room on the second floor, the police recovered the documents and currency from a sealed room on the ground floor which Dr Singh also occupied. 

Also read- NEET PG 2024 Paper leaked? Telegram Channel Claims exam Papers for sale

Following the recovery, Dr Singh, a resident of Samastipur is currently absconding and the principal of PMCH Dr Vidyapati Choudhary filed a complaint against him. Based on the complaint, the police have registered a First Information Report under relevant sections of BNS. 

According to the college authorities' statements, the doctor had illegally occupied several rooms which caused inconvenience to junior doctors and medical students. Even after a warning and notice being issued to him as claimed by the college management, Dr Singh refused to vacant the rooms and continued to stay there forcefully.  

As per a TOI news report, the fire broke out in room 42B late Tuesday night on the second floor of the Chanakya Hostel. However, the police went to assess the situation on Thursday after receiving information on Wednesday around 10 pm about the burned notes and documents. 

Speaking to the daily, Abdul Halim, SHO of Pirbahore police station, said, "Around 10pm on Wednesday, the police received information about burned notes and documents found in a ground-floor room of the hostel. The room was sealed. According to the hospital administration, the room was meant for the caretaker and staff but was illegally occupied by Dr Singh. It appears the documents and notes were burnt during the fire and the accused later dumped them in the ground-floor room."

Asked whether the admit cards recovered included those of the NEET examination as reported in a section of the media, a source told PTI, “I can’t say that specifically… The seizure list is being prepared. It is true that several admit cards of different competitive exams were recovered. Further investigation is underway."

As per The Hindu news report, Dr Singh on Wednesday evening reached the hotel with many people and got furious after seeing the condition of the rooms. Similarly, TOI reports that the police received information around 5.30 pm on the same day that Dr Singh was allegedly assaulted and locked in a room on the 6th floor by some junior students. The reason is unknown but he refused to file a written complaint against the junior students. The next day led to this shocking discovery. 

Sweety Sahrawat, Patna SP (Central) told The Hindu, “A fire had started in the room of Chanakya Hostel and it was illegally occupied by one Kumar. The room was not allotted to him and we have sought a report from the warden of the hostel. We have seized all the documents and have sought a detailed report about every document from the PMCH authority, including the admit cards and other documents."

This recent incident has raised fresh controversy over how the largest medical college in Bihar could remain unaware of a possible racket operating right under its nose. It has brought back the NEET undergraduate paper leak scandal from 2024 which led to nationwide outrage among students.

NEET UG 2024 exam was mired in controversies after a paper leak scam came to light. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that around 13 people, including four examinees and their family members, were arrested in Bihar for their alleged involvement in the paper leak of the NEET-UG exam. Patna police sources had previously claimed that the NEET-UG question papers along with their answers were provided to around 20 aspirants a day before the date of the exam i.e. May 5, 2024.

Then, the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police, which took over the investigation, revealed that the brokers involved in the NEET paper leak scam took between Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh from each of the medical aspirants in exchange for giving them the question paper of the NEET UG 2024 question paper ahead of the examination.

Multiple pleas were filed before the High Courts and the Supreme Court seeking an investigation into the alleged paper leak scam. Some of the pleas demanded the scrapping of the NEET UG 2024 exam and holding a retest. Meanwhile, during the case proceedings, NTA earlier decided to withdraw the grace marks awarded to 1563 candidates and hold an optional retest for those candidates. Those who did not opt for the retest were allowed to retain their original marks, without the grace marks.

The matter is now being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Central Government on June 22, 2024, handed over the charge of investigating in the alleged irregularities in the NEET UG 2024 examination to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Also read- NEET case updates: CBI conducts searches at 7 locations in Gujarat