Medical aspirant, father arrested for cheating

A young medical aspirant, who got admission into a medical college without appearing for NEET exam and counselling, and his father have been arrested by the CB-CID wing of the Tamil Nadu Police on Thursday on charges of “cheating by personation”.

Udit Surya and his father V K Venkatesh, a medical doctor working with the Stanley Government Medical College Hospital here, were taken into custody after several hours of intense questioning in Theni. The duo and the young medical aspirant’s mother were traced to Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh by the state police on Wednesday and brought to Theni for questioning.

Surya is accused of using an impersonator, his namesake, to appear for the exam and medical counselling but later joined the classes himself. The shocking case of impersonation was uncovered after authorities at the Theni Medical College found that Udit Surya's had used a different photograph in the admission card.

Until doubts were raised about his identity, Surya was attending college regularly. Once the ‘fraud’ unravelled, though, he offered to “discontinue” the course and pay the fees. He then went into hiding along with his family.

Sources in the CB-CID told DH that Surya’s father, Dr V K Venkatesh, had admitted to the crime. “He admitted during the interrogation that he had used an impersonator for his son to ensure that he studies medicine. We are also looking for clues on whether any agent helped them in the fraud,” a senior police officer claimed.

The officer said the focus will now been on the student who was used to impersonate Udit Surya and ascertain his whereabouts. “We are also looking into whether there was any cash transaction involved in the case,” he said.

The duo have been booked under sections 416 (cheating by personation), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).