Patna:

The Bihar government will hand over the investigation of alleged irregularities in the 2024 NEET-UG exam to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a thorough probe. The Economic Offences Unit shall hand over all the updated case records to the central agency, said an official on Sunday.

“Bihar government is to hand over the case related to the irregularities in the NEET UG examination held on May 5 to the CBI. The CBI team is expected soon in Patna to take over the investigation of the case. Economic Offences Unit shall hand over all the updated case records to CBI,” according to Economic Offences Unit (EOU) DIG, Nayyar Hasnain Khan.

The EOU official informed about the same and said, “The state government issued a notification on Sunday to accord its consent to the CBI in order to investigate the FIR no. 5117081240358 dated May 5, 2024, registered at Shastrinagar PS Patna case under sections 407, 408, 409, and 120B IPC,, which relates to irregularities in the NEET UG 2024 examination held on May 5, 2024.”

“The CBI team is expected soon in Patna to take over the investigation of the said case. EOU shall hand over all the updated case records to CBI,” he said.

After taking over the probe into the alleged irregularities in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)-UG exams in 2024, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has formed special teams to investigate the case, the central agency said in a statement on Sunday.

According to the CBI, special teams are being rushed to Patna in Bihar and Godhra in Gujarat, where local police cases have been registered.

This comes after the central government entrusted the CBI with the matter of alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG exam in 2024 for a comprehensive investigation.

“National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted the NEET (UG) Examination on May 5, 2024, in OMR (pen and paper) mode. Certain cases of alleged irregularities, cheating, impersonation, and malpractices have been reported. For transparency on the conduct of the examination process, the Ministry of Education, Government of India, after a review, has decided to entrust the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a comprehensive investigation,” the government said

The Central Government has also enacted the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, to prevent unfair means in public examinations and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto,” it said.

“The government is committed to ensuring the sanctity of examinations and protecting the interests of students. It is reiterated that any individual or organisation found to be involved will face strictest action,” it added.

The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducted the NEET-UG exams, is facing criticism over alleged irregularities in the exams.

This resulted in several protests across the country, with protestors and political parties demanding to disband the NTA.

An unprecedented 67 candidates achieved a perfect score of 720 out of 720, which added to the concerns.

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

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.