PRECAUTIONS TAKEN: According to sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating the matter, the NEET-UG paper leak accused were very careful, targeting only 120 candidates who paid them initial money and post-dated cheques of Rs 20 lakh if they got selected. “The accused did this job very carefully and they were aware of the possibility of a large-scale leak. They deliberately did not give access to it to a large group of people. They knew that if the paper got leaked on any communication app, it could go viral and eventually lead to the cancellation of the exam. They also avoided contacting any institute,” sources said. The accused entered the room at 8:02 am and left at 9:23 am after taking pictures of the paper, repacking and sealing the bundle, sources said. “There was no social media transfer or printout. One person came and solved the paper completely,” sources said. The CBI says the leak did not cause much damage except in four places, but even in that case the students could not take much advantage of it, as they were not that smart and were short of time. “The role of the National Testing Agency (NTA) will be decided by a committee. We have completed a part of the round-up investigation and we will move on to investigate the larger conspiracy,” sources said. The central probe agency, which is probing alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam, has registered six FIRs.
The Bihar FIR pertains to the paper leak, while the rest of the FIRs from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra relate to impersonation and cheating of candidates. The agency’s own FIR, on a reference from the Union Education Ministry, pertains to a “comprehensive investigation” into alleged irregularities in NEET-UG 2024. Actions so far The CBI on Saturday arrested a B-Tech graduate and two MBBS students of NIT-Jamshedpur in the paper leak case. The two MBBS students arrested today – Kumar Mangalam Bishnoi (second year) and Dipendra Sharma (first year) – are from a medical school in Rajasthan. The agency believes they had solved the exam papers stolen by engineer Pankaj Kumar from the National Testing Agency (NTA) trunk in Hazaribagh. The arrested persons were part of the solver module, in which five MBBS students have already been arrested. The answers were handed over to NEET UG candidates who availed the services of the gang, he said. Preliminary investigation also revealed that two “solvers” were present in Hazaribagh on May 5, the day the NEET-UG exam was held across the country. He said with the fresh arrests, the total number of those nabbed by the agency so far in six cases related to alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam has now gone up to 21. NEET-UG is conducted by the NTA for admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions. This year, the exam was held on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 foreign ones. Over 23 lakh candidates took the exam.
