The Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police has stepped up the probe into the alleged paper leak of NEET-UG 2024, which was conducted on May 5. According to the police, the paper leak gang allegedly took ₹30 to ₹50 lakh from many candidates and accommodated them in lodges of Patna where they were provided question papers, claiming to be that of NEET-UG, for memorizing.
Additional Director General of EoU, NH Khan confirmed that the unit decided to take up the case after the involvement of organized gangs, which have a history.
An eight-member SIT led by EoU SP (admin) Madan Kumar Anand has been constituted to crack the case. “The probe unit during the investigation found that the gang members hired Learn Boys Hostel and Learn Play School at Khemnichak under Ram Krishna Nagar police station of the state capital to solve the answer paper for two dozen aspirants. When police raided the place, they seized burnt question papers and sent them for forensic examination,” said Khan, adding that police also recovered admit cards, post-dated cheques, and educational certificates from the arrested persons.
The Patna police have arrested 13 persons, including four examinees, so far and forwarded them to judicial custody under sections 407/408/409 and 120b.
Examinees were identified as Ayush Kumar (19), a resident of Danapur, Abhishek Kumar (21) from Ranchi, Anurag Yadav (22) from Samastipur, and Shivnandan Kumar from Gaya.
Besides four, the police arrested Anurag’s mother Rina Kumari, Ayush’s father Akhilesh Kumar, Abhishek’s father Awadhesh Kumar, exam setters and mastermind of the gang, junior engineer Sikander Prasad Yadvendu (Samastipur), his driver Bittu Kumar (Rohtas), Nitish Kumar and Amit Anand (Munger).
Two persons, namely Raushan Kumar (Nalanda) and Ashutosh Kumar (Jamui) are said to be associates of Amit Anand.
Patna police got information about the NEET question paper leak from a Jharkhand-based central agency, which provided the registration number of a Duster car. Police first located the car and detained four persons, including Sikander and Abhishek. During the examination of the car, police recovered four admit cards of different NEET students.
In the course of interrogation, Akhilesh confessed that his son Ayush appeared at DAV School and was later detained from the center.
“Ayush confessed that he had received the NEET question paper on Saturday night, a day before the exam that was held on May 5. He said that the question paper he got was the same as the one distributed at the examination center. Ayush also said that 25 other candidates like him memorized the answers to the question paper that was given to them on the premises of Learn Boys Hostel and Learn Play School,” said an investigator.
Investigation revealed that the kingpin of the gang is Sanjiv Singh, a resident of Nalanda. Sanjiv’s wife Mamta Devi was the elected mukhia of Bhuthakhar panchayat and fought the 2020 assembly election from the Harnaut constituency. Sanjiv is the person who arranged the question paper and handed it over to Rocky. Rocky is still large.
The junior engineer Sikander, posted with Danapur Nagar parishad since 2020, confessed after arrest the names of Sanjiv Singh, Rocky, Nitish, and Amit Anand. Police said that Sanjiv’s son Dr Shiv Kumar, was arrested from Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh) in a BPSC TRE-3 question paper leak case.
ADG Khan said EoU would shortly take them on remand and would conduct a thorough interrogation.
Bihar police have already arrested 16 solvers (impersonators) for cheating. Out of 16, eleven of them are medical students, studying at different medical colleges in Bihar, Goa, and Maharashtra and one is the lecturer of a paramedical college. Eight were arrested from Katihar, four from Purnia, two from Vaishali, and one each from Gopalganj and Patna were arrested allegedly appearing for the exams in place of registered candidates. Separate FIRs have been lodged against the solvers.
