NEET Row: The Bihar Police's Economic Offences Unit (EOU) has found six postdated checks that are thought to have been written out to the mafia. Over Rs 30 lakh was reportedly demanded from each candidate in exchange for an alleged leaked question paper ahead of the NEET UG 2024. The exam was held on May 5.
"During the course of the investigation, EOU sleuths recovered six post-dated checks that were issued in the favour of criminals who reportedly facilitated question papers to the aspirants ahead of the examination," Manavjit Singh Dhillon, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), EOU, told PTI. He also stated that the concerned banks are providing investigators with information about the account holders in question.
According to PTI, 13 people have been arrested by the EOU so far in relation to the alleged NEET-UG 2024 paper leak case, four of whom are examinees and others their family members. All of the accused are from Bihar.
Reportedly, the exam's question paper and answers were made available to about 9 candidates and 4 additional examinees from Bihar who have already been arrested by the EOU in a "safe house" close to Patna the day before the exam was held. The candidates revealed during questioning that their parents had paid over Rs 30 lakh to people who had provided advance question papers for each candidate, reported PTI.
"The evidence of the transaction has also been found and six post-dated cheques have also been recovered during the course of investigation. The EOU sleuths also recovered partially burnt question papers from the safe house", the DIG told PTI.
"We have requested NTA reference question papers. To this point, it has not responded. We will forward the burned question paper to the relevant forensic lab for analysis as soon as we receive reference question papers from the NTA," he added.
Over 24 lakh candidates took the National Testing Agency's (NTA) National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2024 at 4,750 locations across 571 cities. On June 4, the NEET-UG 2024 results were released. There was controversy following the results' announcement, with numerous students claiming that there were many discrepancies in the results.
Following this, a group of applicants filed a petition with the Supreme Court, voicing their concerns over the exam's integrity and alleged paper leaks. They also demanded a new exam.
