Patna:

The Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Vijay Kumar Sinha, claimed on Wednesday that Sikandar Yadvendu, who was arrested in the NEET question paper leak case, is a close relative Pritam Kumar, the personal secretary of former Deputy CM and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.

The investigation being conducted by the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police has identified Sikandar Yadvendu, a junior engineer in the municipal committee of Danapur, as the kingpin of the NEET question paper leak case.

“Sikandar Yadvendu is a close relative of Tejashwi Yadav’s PS Pritam Kumar. An NHAI guest house was booked for Sikandar’s sister Reena Yadav and son Anurag Yadav to stay on May 4. A phone number and ‘Mantri Ji’ were mentioned in the diary of the NHAI guest house. The investigating agency is making efforts to know the identity of this Mantri Ji,” Mr Sinha said.

Mr Sinha, who also holds the road construction portfolio, said that he has ordered an inquiry into the booking of the NHAI guest house.

“I am getting a thorough investigation done by my department to find out which officers or employees are working at the behest of Tejashwi Yadav. The entire system of RJD is based on crime and corruption,” Mr Sinha said.

The EOU has found evidence that the question papers of NEET 2024 were leaked. The examination was held on May 5 and the question paper was leaked a day earlier on May 4.

The kingpin of this gang is Sikandar Yadavendu, who has been arrested. The EOU claims that Sikandar made his brother-in-law’s son and many other candidates memorise the answers by giving them the question paper in advance.

On May 5, the police arrested Reena Yadav from the NHAI guest house. The EOU also found an OMR sheet from the guest house. Reena’s son Anurag’s name is written in the register of the guest house, with ‘Mantri Ji’ written next to it.

Sikandar is a resident of Samastipur. He used to work as a contractor in Ranchi. In 2012, he became a junior engineer. He was an accused in the LED scam of Rs 3 crore and served a jail term as well.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)