A key suspect in the NEET scam, Vedhachalam, 62, a retired government employee, surrendered in a Salem Court on Friday.
Earlier, the Crime Branch CID (CBCID) wrote to authorities about stopping his pension and freezing bank accounts. With special teams seizing his passport and hot on his heels, he surrendered, sources said.
A native of Krishnagiri, he was allegedly in close association with Rashid, the kingpin, and approached affluent parents of NEET candidates. Rashid took ₹25 to 30 lakh each from eight candidates through Vedhachalam.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We will take Vedhachalam into custody for interrogation,” a CBCID official said.
Three months after the agency wrote to the Director General of Health Services, Board of Governors, National Medical Commission, and Directors of Medical Education of five States, with photographs and biometrics of a dozen proxy NEET writers — mostly medicos — seeking assistance to track the suspects down, there was no response from them.
A native of Kerala settled in Bengaluru, Rashid helped the eight candidates pass NEET and join medical colleges in Tamil Nadu.
ADVERTISEMENT
‘Similar fraud’
“There is every possibility that he is involved in similar fraud in other States. Vedhachalam’s interrogation might throw more light on these aspects,” the official said. CBCID teams were working with Karnataka and Kerala police to apprehend Rashid and his associates.