Amid NEET paper leak controversy, FMGE question paper- Answer key goes for sale on social media, police registers case
Thiruvananthapuram: Amid the ongoing controversy over alleged irregularities in NEET this year including the paper leak, another fraud has come to light wherein an announcement was made on social media that the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) question paper and answer key were for sale.
According to a recent report by PTI, the Kerala Cyber Police have registered a case in the matter and the investigation is on.
The advertisement in question which went viral on social media platform X, read "FMGE Question: You'll receive 200 questions 32 hours before the exam; You'll also get correct answer with the question; Every Question will appear in the exam." It adds- " Fee Structure for FMGE retest- Invigilator 145,000 INR- Fees after exam 50,000 INR- Fees after Result 125,000 INR."
Speaking on the matter, a state police spokesperson informed PTI that the City Cyber Crime Police in Thiruvananthapuram have registered a case against groups that advertised the sale of question papers for the July 6 exam on Telegram groups.
The case was registered under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024, making it the first case of its kind in the state to be registered under this law, the spokesperson said in a statement.
As part of efforts to detect such frauds, the Cyber Division of the Police has started 24×7 cyber patrolling on social media platforms, including various Telegram channels, it said.
After completing MBBS studies abroad, those who wish to practice in India are required to pass the FMGE conducted by the National Board of Examinations.
NBEMS is going to conduct the FMGE June 2024 tomorrow, i.e. on 6th July 2024 in two shifts, i.e., first from 9 AM to 11:30 AM and second from 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM on the computer-based platform across the country.
This matter has come up while the medical aspirants are already frustrated with the controversy over NEET and the cancellation of NEET PG at the last minute.
This year's 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 have been 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.
The top court is going to hear the NEET petitions on July 8th.
Whereas, NEET PG 2024 was postponed at the last minute by the Union Health Ministry as a precautionary measure. While the exam was scheduled to be held on 23rd June, 2024, Ministry postponed it on 22nd June, 2024, around 12 hours before the exam was about to take place. The exam was cancelled amid the allegations of the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak and the cancellation of the UGC-NET exam.
