NEET probe: Bihar court sends two accused to CBI remand for three days

NEW DELHI: A court in Bihar’s Patna on Wednesday sent two accused in the NEET “paper leak” to CBI remand for three days. The CBI had on Sunday filed an FIR in connection with alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET-UG held on May 5 on a reference from the Union education ministry. The probe agency on Tuesday presented a copy of the FIR before the court, seeking custody of the suspects, who were previously arrested by the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the Bihar Police.

The court allowed the CBI to take Baldev Kumar alias Chintu and Mukesh Kumar under its remand for further questioning. Baldev Kumar, associated with the notorious Sanjeev Kumar alias Lutan Mukhiya gang, allegedly received the solved answer sheet of the NEET-UG in PDF format on his mobile phone a day before the exam, sources said. Mukesh is also associated with the gang, they said. The CBI is also trying to nab the other absconding members of the Mukhiya gang, accused of orchestrating multiple interstate paper leaks.

Investigations revealed that Baldev and his associates printed and distributed the solved answer sheet to students gathered at a safe house in Ram Krishna Nagar in Patna on May 4 for memorisation, the sources said. The aspirants were brought there by two previously arrested persons, Nitish Kumar and Amit Anand. Investigators also found that the leaked NEET-UG question paper was obtained from a private school in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, by the Mukhiya gang. A CBI team from Delhi on Wednesday visited the safe house in Patna as well as the housing society of prime suspect Sikandar Yadavendu, the sources said.

Detained school official

The CBI sleuths also paid a visit to the guest house in Patna where the question paper was allegedly leaked. The guest house was allegedly booked for Sikandar Yadavendu by an individual, who is reportedly associated with a prominent politician of Bihar, they said. “The probe agency’s team has also detained a senior member of the management of the private school in Hazaribagh. The EOU in its investigation also found that the booklet box of question papers received by the school was tampered with.

The role of the school's National Testing Agency (NTA) observer, centre superintendent and principal has been found suspicious,” one of the sources said. The role of some private colleges and institutes, which allegedly sent solvers on behalf of actual candidates in the NEET exam, is also under investigation, he said. “Investigators are collecting details about a school (in Muzaffarpur district) where a solver from Kota (Rajasthan) reportedly appeared on behalf of a student in the NEET-UG exam on May 5,” he added. Meanwhile, senior JD(U) leader and minister Sharwan Kumar said the opposition should not politicise the matter. “The CBI is investigating the matter the case... Several people have been arrested... more will be arrested in the days to come,” he said.