The NEET Undergraduate paper leak controversy reached the Patna High Court. The Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar police, taking over the investigation on May 10, have now added six more names of medical aspirants allegedly involved in receiving the question paper and answers before the May 5 exam.
The NEET UG exam, essential for medical course admissions, was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 5, 2024, nationwide, including Bihar. Shortly after the exam, reports of a paper leak emerged, leading to the arrest of 13 individuals by Patna police.
As per a Times Of India Report, the EOU officers have revealed that they have found evidence that aspirants admitted to them about their parents paying Rs 30-50 lakh to obtain question papers of the exam.
Thirteen people so far, including medical aspirants, parents, linemen, their associates, and a driver, have been arrested and are in judicial custody.
Twelve of them were remanded for 24 hours by the EOU investigating team on May 19 for interrogation. Aspirants disclosed receiving a question paper similar to the the leaked paper from a lineman named Sikander Yadavendu, a junior engineer in Danapur Nagar Parishad, who operated in Danapur Nagar Parishad in Patna.
Manavjit Singh Dhillon, deputy inspector general of EOU, told TOI that during interrogation, aspirants confessed to being taken to a secluded house in Ramkrishna Nagar, rented by the linemen, where around 35 of them were given marked question papers on May 4.
Burned question papers were recovered and will be reconstructed for comparison by an FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory) team, said the deputy inspector general. Additionally, six more aspirants from Bihar and other states have been identified.
The EOU is working to identify the gang supplying question papers to linemen.
“The other aspirants, who stayed at the rented room will be identified through the roll codes, which was recovered from the flat. We have sent the roll codes to the National Testing Agency, which conducted the exam, for details of the candidates,” Dhillon told TOI.
Despite NTA's assurance of smooth conduct across 4,750 centers in 571 cities, allegations of widespread malpractice have raised concerns about the exam's fairness.
