New Delhi:

The CBI Saturday arrested an NIT-Jamshedpur B.Tech graduate, one of the masterminds, in the NEET-UG paper leak case and two MBBS students who allegedly solved the exam papers for money, officials said.

With the fresh arrests, the total number of people held so far by the agency in six cases related to the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam has now reached 21, they said.

They said that the two MBBS students arrested on Saturday — Kumar Mangalam Bishnoi (2nd year) and Deepender Sharma (1st year) — are from a medical school in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, and they solved the exam papers stolen by Pankaj Kumar, an engineer, from an National Testing Agency trunk in Hazaribagh.

The two “solvers” were present in Hazaribagh on May 5, the date the NEET-UG examination was conducted across the country.

According to sources, these two were were part of the solver module in which five MBBS students have already been arrested. The answers were handed over to NEET UG aspirants who had availed the services of the gang, they said.

They also said the third person arrested on Saturday — Sashikant Paswan alias Sashi alias Pasu, a B.Tech (Electrical) passout from the National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur — was acting in tandem with Kumar and Rockey, who was also arrested earlier.

The agency alleged that Paswan is one of the kingpins and masterminds in the paper leak case.

The paper leak case was taken over by the CBI from the Bihar Police.

The CBI has already arrested Pankaj Kumar, who stole the paper, and Raju Singh who had helped him in the process. One of the masterminds — Rockey — was also arrested by the agency.

On Thursday, it arrested one Surender Sharma, who also helped Kumar in Hazaribagh.

The central probe agency, which is investigating the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam, has lodged six FIRs. The FIR from Bihar pertains to paper leak while the remaining ones 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.

The 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. 

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

New Delhi:

Amid an uproar in the Rajya Sabha over the NEET issue, senior JD(S) leader HD Deve Gowda on Friday appealed to the opposition to let the House function smoothly and said the government cannot fix responsibility until the probe in the matter is completed.

Rajya Sabha witnessed chaotic scenes as opposition members demanding a discussion on the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) raised slogans and entered the Well of the House during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address.

Intervening during the discussion, Mr Gowda said lakhs of students have been affected because of the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the medical entrance exam.

“I do not want to take sides. The government has taken the right decision (to order a CBI probe),” the former prime minister said.

He said the investigation is not yet complete and the government cannot fix responsibility until it is completed. He appealed to the opposition members to let the House function smoothly. However, the protesting members did not relent.

BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi, who initiated the discussion on the Motion of Thanks, said it was unfortunate that the opposition was continuing with its protests and sloganeering despite an appeal for order by a senior member like Mr Gowda. 

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

New Delhi:

Members of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) were today detained when they were protesting near the Parliament over the alleged NEET-UG paper leak. They were detained after they faced off with the police and broke barricades.

The IYC members had gathered in Delhi and said it was a “Parliament gherao” move and they would continue their march.

Allegations of paper leaks and irregularities have led to significant unrest among students and parents, they said.

संसद से महज़ चंद कदमों के फासले पर, पेपर लीक वाली लीकेज सरकार के विरुद्ध पूरे जोश के साथ गरज रहे हैं IYC के साथी! #IYCSansadGheraopic.twitter.com/lCLAv6BC77

— Indian Youth Congress (@IYC) June 27, 2024

“Thousands of IYC workers have come out on the streets of Delhi today, becoming the voice of students suffering from the atrocities of paper leak,” IYC chief BV Srinivas said in a post on X.

The NEET-UG exam, which was held on May 5, has been mired in controversy with allegations of cheating and impersonation.

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The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducted the exam, has faced severe criticism, leading to protests and legal actions.

The Centre has replaced the chief of the NTA and formed a committee to review and improve its functioning. The Supreme Court is also scheduled to hear petitions related to the issue on July 8.

On Wednesday, the Bihar government handed the investigation over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which has already taken several accused into custody.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the NTA following a petition filed by a learning app alleging exam rigging in the NEET-UG exams. The court directed the NTA to respond to the notice by July 8, when the hearing on the matter will take place.

Deoghar:

The Bihar Police detained six people from Jharkhand’s Deoghar district in connection with the alleged irregularities in medical entrance exam NEET, an official said on Saturday.

They were detained from a house near AIIMS-Deoghar in Devipur police station area on Friday night, he said.

“The Bihar Police gave us a tip-off. On our identification, they were taken into custody. All the suspects have been taken to Bihar,” SDPO (Deoghar Sadar) Ritvik Srivastava told PTI.

The suspects were allegedly living at the house of one Jhunu Singh, he said.

They were identified as Paramjit Singh alias Bittu, Chintu alias Baldev Kumar, Kaju alias Prashant Kumar, Ajit Kumar, Rajiv Kumar alias Karu, all residents of Nalanda district of Bihar, and Panku Kumar, according to a statement issued by the Deoghar Police.

NEET-UG was conducted by the NTA on May 5 with around 24 lakh candidates taking part in it. The results were announced on June 4, but they were followed by allegations of question paper leaks in states such as Bihar, besides other irregularities.

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

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.)