Patna:

A 22-year-old man arrested in connection with an alleged paper leak in National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical college admissions has told the police that his uncle assured him the exam was in the bag and called him back from Kota, where he was preparing for the test.

Anurag Yadav is among the four people arrested in Bihar in the paper leak case that has sparked nationwide protests and put the central government on the backfoot. A total of 24 lakh aspirants had taken NEET exam on May 5 for admission to medical colleges across the country. In the aftermath of the results on June 4, several irregularities emerged, triggered demands for a re-examination.

In his statement to police, Anurag has said he had been preparing for the medical entrance exam at coaching hub Kota. “My uncle Sikandar Yadavendu works as a junior engineer at Danapur municipal council. He told me to come back to Samastipur. He said ‘exam ka setting ho chuka hai‘ (exam is all sorted). I returned to Samastipur and my uncle dropped me at the home of Amit Anand and Nitish Kumar.”

Anurag has said in his statement that Amit Anand and Nitish Kumar handed him some questions and answers, and asked him to memorise them. “The next day, when I went for the exam, I found all the questions I had prepared. After the exam, police suddenly arrested me,” he has said.

Sikandar Yadavendu, Amit Anand and Nitish Kumar have also been arrested.

Sikandar has told police that Amit and Nitish asked for 30-32 lakh rupees per student for the NEET question paper. “I told them I have four students taking the test. Out of greed, I told each student that they need to pay Rs 40 lakh for the question paper,” he has reportedly said.

Multiple irregularities have surfaced in this year’s NEET: as many as 67 students have scored 720/720 and six of them are from the same centre in Haryana. The high-cut off this time has left many students wondering if they would get a medical college seat or not.

The government has told the Supreme Court that the high marks are a result of grace marking in some centres due to loss of time. The Centre and the NTA added that they had now cancelled the grace marks awarded to 1,563 candidates. Amid reports of irregularities, a section of examinees are demanding a retest.