Calcutta, Aug. 4: Prasenjit Bhaumik had twice appeared for his higher secondary examination and failed. This year, he not only cleared his Plus II but secured a place in the joint entrance examination (JEE) merit list.

He would have taken admission to a medical college, had Ranvijay Pathak and Mihir Jha — who were arrested in connection with the JEE scam — not spilled his name during interrogation.

Prasenjit and his doctor father Gopika Raman Bhaumik were held from Mosat in Hooghly late last night. They were accused of buying a place on the merit list paying Rs 2 lakh in advance. Gopika had promised Rs 6 lakh more, to be paid after his son’s admission.

Police said Pathak had arranged a dummy to appear on Prasenjit’s behalf in the entrance exam.

Eighteen people have been held so far in connection with the scam. Among them are two doctors, a final-year MBBS student and Piyush Basu, who did his MBBS from RG Kar Medical College but had his registration cancelled following a death during an illegal abortion.

“Gopika Raman is a doctor and wanted his son to be a doctor as well. But Prasenjit couldn’t live up to his dreams. A former student of a reputable south Calcutta school, he didn’t fare well even in Madhyamik,” detective department deputy commissioner Ajoy Kumar said.

Prasenjit passed his HS from Deogarh in Bihar. He ranked 926 in JEE.