New Delhi, June 17: Days before lakhs of students are set to appear for the NEET-UG re-examination on June 21, a NEET aspirant allegedly died by suicide in Delhi.

The deceased, identified as Renu, lived with her family in the Palam area of South-West Delhi. According to reports, she had appeared for the NEET examination on May 3 and had reportedly been suffering from depression after the examination was cancelled.

Police said that on June 13, Renu’s father had gone to his in-laws’ residence following the death of his father-in-law. Renu was alone at home when the incident occurred. She allegedly died by hanging herself on the evening of June 13.

A suicide note recovered from the spot revealed her emotional distress. In the note, she apologised to her parents and wrote that she had been unable to fulfil their aspirations. The family is originally from Rajasthan.

The incident comes amid growing concern over the mental well-being of students preparing for highly competitive examinations, particularly after the controversy surrounding the NEET examination and allegations of paper leaks.

Earlier this week, a 22-year-old NEET aspirant died by suicide in Rajasthan’s Sikar district. The student, identified as Umesh Mali, was preparing for his third attempt at the NEET examination, which is scheduled to be held on June 21.

This was the second case of a NEET aspirant dying by suicide in Sikar, highlighting the mounting pressure faced by students preparing for competitive entrance examinations.

According to police, Umesh was a native of Nawalgarh in Jhunjhunu district. His father works as a tile contractor in Mumbai. Umesh had been residing in a flat in the Udyog Nagar police station area of Sikar along with his mother, elder sister, and younger brother while preparing for the examination.

In another similar incident reported on Tuesday, a 23-year-old woman in Dehradun allegedly ended her life after reportedly struggling to clear the NEET examination. She left behind a note addressed to her parents that read, “Mummy-Papa, I love you.”

According to investigators, preliminary findings suggest that she had been preparing for the NEET examination for a long time and aspired to pursue a career in medicine.

Meanwhile, NTA Director General Abhishek Singh on Tuesday assured aspirants that the re-examination would be conducted in a secure and error-free manner, while cautioning students and parents against social media rackets claiming to sell “leaked papers” for hefty sums.

In a video message, Singh said there was “no leaked paper for the re-exam” and warned candidates against falling prey to fraudsters operating through Telegram channels.

He said the temporary suspension of the Telegram application till June 22 was aimed at curbing fake news and misleading claims relating to the examination.

New Delhi, June 17: The CISF personnel at Terminal-1 of Indira Gandhi International Airport on Wednesday intercepted a passenger bound for Kolkata after noticing suspicious behaviour during security screening. A detailed frisking led to the recovery of 1.210 kg of gold concealed in the passenger’s clothing, along with Rs 1,97,200 in unaccounted cash. Upon questioning, the passenger failed to produce any valid documents or provide a satisfactory explanation regarding the recovered items.

During the proceedings, the passenger allegedly attempted to influence the on-duty CISF personnel to avoid legal action. However, the CISF staff displayed exemplary integrity by rejecting the offer and promptly reporting the matter to senior authorities.

The passenger, along with the seized gold and cash, was subsequently handed over to the Income Tax Department for further investigation and legal action.

The successful interception highlights the vigilance, professionalism, and unwavering integrity of CISF personnel in safeguarding the nation’s civil aviation sector and reinforces their commitment to the motto of ensuring “Safe Airports, Secure Nation”.

Earlier on June 4, the CISF personnel intercepted a foreign national at the Mumbai airport and recovered illicit foreign currency worth Rs 1.39 crore, being carried by him in his luggage.

The foreign national was subsequently taken into custody and handed over to the Customs officials at the airport for further interrogation and action.

According to CISF officials, the said passenger was travelling from Mumbai to Addis Ababa with the unaccounted cash.

The foreign national, while checking in for the scheduled flight, came under the scanner of vigilant officials after the latter observed some suspicious objects in his baggage during screening at the X-BIS system. The X-ray image of his belongings created some suspicion, prompting the CISF officials to carry out a detailed examination of his hand luggage.

It was during baggage screening that the CISF personnel stumbled upon a suspicious bag, belonging to a traveller of foreign origin, and then dug deeper into the scanned image. An uncleared foreign currency amounting to USD 145,000 (approx Rs 1.39 crore) was found in his bag and subsequently seized by the authorities.

Mumbai, June 17: The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) on Wednesday said that politics has become completely unpredictable, and it is impossible to tell when someone’s fortunes might suddenly soar.

Citing the case of West Bengal, the party said this phenomenon has reached “a point of absolute absurdity”. An obscure, hollow outfit called the ‘Nationalist Citizens Party of India’ (NCPI) has hit the political lottery, suddenly gaining 22 ‘ready-made’ Members of Parliament (MPs).

The Shiv Sena(UBT) in an editorial in its mouthpiece, ‘Saamana’, stated that established regional political forces like the Shiv Sena or Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have never managed to secure such a high number of MPs at one time. Numerous political parties have spent their entire existence struggling to elect even a single MLA or MP. What prominent leaders like Adv Prakash Ambedkar, Ramdas Athawale, and Arvind Kejriwal could not achieve, this Tripura-registered NCPI managed overnight.

According to the editorial, this “miracle” of Indian democracy was made possible entirely due to the “strategic manoeuvres of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar”.

“Though the party originates from Tripura — a state that only sends two members to the Lok Sabha — this Tripura-based party will now command 22 seats in the Lok Sabha, operating strictly as ‘yes-men’ to PM Modi. It perfectly exemplifies the proverb, ‘When the Almighty gives, He breaks through the roof’ — showering unasked bounty upon them,” the editorial said.

Ironically, the NCPI chief, Uttiya Kundu, was completely unaware that his party had suddenly won a “lottery” of 20 to 22 ready-made MPs. This sudden “money laundering of MPs” into his party left him completely bewildered, panicked, and confused, remarked the editorial.

“The defecting MPs have no reason to fear Kundu. Cowardly, selfish, and compromised MPs from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) simply engineered a mass merger into Kundu’s alleyway-registered party to secure personal safety,” claimed the Thackeray camp.

“This marks a dark chapter in the history of Indian politics. The absolute vow taken in Kolkata by BJP to ensure the Trinamool Congress would not even survive for medicinal purposes after the elections has been practically realised. It has exposed that Mamata Banerjee’s party was filled with fugitives and compromised individuals whose grand rhetoric regarding Bengali identity (‘Maa, Mati, Manush’) was entirely hollow. They held no genuine love for Mamata Banerjee or the pride of Bengal; at the first taste of defeat, they collapsed like a house of cards and scattered like dry leaves,” said the editorial.

According to the Thackeray camp, this political script is not unique to Bengal, and the “ruling dispensation in Delhi has deployed the exact same strategy across other proud, self-respecting states. Currently, in the political market, it is the defectors and traitors who command the highest value”.

“In Maharashtra, where veteran leaders like Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray saw the very people they nurtured and appointed as ministers turn traitor first. In Punjab, where the ruling party’s MPs were similarly poached and fractured. In West Bengal, where an entire block of MPs collapsed like a house of cards,” it said.