A show cause notice has been issued against a police official for allegedly failing to attach the suicide note purportedly written by a female NEET aspirant in Nagpur, Maharashtra, to the case papers, a senior officer said on Saturday.
"The suicide note was mentioned in the station diary entry. However, it was not attached to the case papers," said DCP (zone 2) Nityanand Jha.
He said a show cause notice has been issued against the Investigation Officer Nikhil Tabhane of the Ambazari police station for the lapse.
Another official said the suicide note was not mentioned in any documents related to the case. Even DCP Jha was not told about the note's existence. However, when the matter was finally exposed, senior police officers conducted an inquiry to fix responsibility and submitted a report to the DCP.
A NEET-UG aspirant, identified as Akanksha Chaturvedi (18), allegedly hanged herself in her room in Nagpur on May 20, days after appearing for the exam on May 3. She hailed from Madhya Pradesh.
In the emotional note, Chaturvedi purportedly stated that there was "no guarantee" that she would score good marks in the retest, ordered by the National Testing Agency after cancelling the exam amid paper leak allegations.
The suicide case drew national attention after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi posted the incident on the social media platform X.
The suicide note was discovered by her family members days after her death. When the family members were going through her books and study material, they found the handwritten note, which was subsequently submitted to the Ambazari police on June 1.
"Mummy, Papa...you had trust in me that I would study and become a doctor. But I do not have the courage to appear for a retest. In the first test, I was about to score good marks. But there is no guarantee that I will score good marks again. Sorry, Mummy, Papa, I have ruined everything for both of you," the note reads.
Her father, Krishna Kumar Chaturvedi, a small farmer who also worked as a cook in Nagpur to support the family, had told the police that his daughter had returned from the examination feeling optimistic and expected to score more than 650 marks.
However, the family members later noticed a significant change in Akanksha's behaviour as she appeared increasingly disturbed following reports of a paper leak and exam rescheduling.
An official of the Ambazari police station said the statements of her family members have been recorded, and a further probe is underway.
All aspects mentioned in the note are being examined, he had said.
