NEET 2024 Paper Leak Case: CBI arrests four MBBS students of AIIMS Patna

NEW DELHI: The CBI questioned four AIIMS Patna students on Thursday in connection with the NEET-UG paper leak case, officials said. They said three MBBS third-year students and one from the second year were taken to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office for questioning in connection with the case. They were picked up from their hostel rooms in the presence of senior faculty members, who had been informed that the students were needed for the probe, the officials said. The agency has sealed their hostel rooms as well, they said.

"The CBI has taken away four AIIMS Patna students. Chandan Singh, Rahul Anant, and Kumar Shanu are third-year students and Karan Jain is a second-year student," AIIMS Patna Director G K Paul said. He said a senior officer had sent them photographs and mobile numbers of the students. An inspector and a CBI team took the students in the presence of the dean, hostel warden and the OSD to the director, Paul said. The students are with the CBI and are yet to return, he added.

The move comes two days after the CBI arrested Pankaj Kumar alias Aditya, a 2017-batch civil engineer from the National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur, who allegedly stole the NEET-UG paper from the NTA trunk in Hazaribagh, the officials said. Kumar, a resident of Bokaro, was arrested from Patna, they said. The CBI has also arrested one Raju Singh, who allegedly helped Kumar steal the paper, from Hazaribagh, the officials said.

The CBI, which is probing the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam, has lodged six FIRs. The FIR from Bihar pertains to a paper leak and the rest from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra are regarding impersonation of candidates and cheating. The agency's own FIR on a reference from the Union education ministry pertains to a "comprehensive investigation" into the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024. NEET-UG is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions. This year, the exam was conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 abroad. More than 23 lakh candidates took the test.