The CBI has arrested two more persons, including a candidate, from Patna in the NEET-UG paper leak case, taking the total number of arrests by the agency to 11, officials said on Tuesday. This is the first time the CBI has arrested a candidate in connection with the alleged irregularities in NEET-UG, they said. NEET-UG aspirant Sunny, who hails from Nalanda, and the father of another candidate Ranjit Kumar, who is from Gaya, have been arrested, they said.
The CBI has so far arrested eight people in the Bihar NEET-UG paper leak case, one each in connection with alleged exam manipulation in Gujarat’s Latur and Godhra, and one from Dehradun in connection with general conspiracy, the officials said. The agency had earlier arrested the principal and vice principal of Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh-based Oasis school in the case and two persons who allegedly provided safe premises to NEET candidates where burnt question papers were recovered by the Bihar Police.
The CBI, which is probing the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam, has registered six FIRs. The FIR from Bihar pertains to paper leaks while the remaining from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra are linked to the 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 examination.
NEET-UG is conducted by the 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 had appeared for the test.