NEET-UG mock drills underway across centres ahead of May 4 entrance
New Delhi (PTI): Mock drills were conducted at all NEET-UG centres on Saturday to ensure smooth conduct of the nationwide medical entrance, according to an official source.
The crucial exam is scheduled for May 4 at 5,453 centres in over 500 cities across the country. This year, over 22.7 lakh candidates have registered for the exam.
"There will be three layers of monitoring on the exam day – at the District, State, and Centre levels," a Ministry of Education (MoE) source said.
Most of the centres this year are located in government and government-aided schools, colleges, universities, and institutions.
"To ensure smooth and secure conduct of the exam, mock drills are being conducted at all centres. These drills will help test readiness in terms of functionality of mobile signal jammers; availability of adequate manpower for frisking; and biometric authentication procedures," the source said.
The ministry has said that candidates found indulging in unfair means – before, during, or after the examination – will be booked under Unfair Means (UFM) and penalised accordingly.
"The penalties include debarment of up to three years from appearing in NTA exams (based on severity) and criminal and/or legal action under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024," said the person.
The strict measures come a year after alleged irregularities including paper-leak were flagged in NEET which put the integrity of the exam under scanner.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
