A man who stole NEET-UG paper from the trunk of the National Testing Agency in Bihar’s Hazaribagh before they were allegedly leaked and his associate has been arrested by the CBI today, sources said. Pankaj Kumar, who stole the paper, has been arrested from Patna while Raju Singh was caught in Jamshedpur.

Mr Kumar aka Aaditya did his civil engineering from NIT Jamshedpur in 2017, the sources said. His accomplice Raju had allegedly distributed the leaked paper, they said.

 Leak Had Genesis In Hazaribagh: CBI

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had earlier zeroed in on Hazaribagh as the origin place of the NEET-UG paper leak. The paper was leaked by Oasis school in Hazari Bagh, the CBI probe said, adding, that two sets of papers which reached there had their seals broken and instead of flagging the issue the staff of the school remained tight-lipped.

“Nine sets of question papers were dispatched from SBI Hazaribagh to different centres. The ones that reached Oasis school centre had their seals broken. The staff there did not raise an alarm and thus, their role is established,” a senior official disclosed.

“Based on technical evidence, they had made searches in Learn and Play School in Patna where some burnt papers were recovered,” he explained adding that the case was later taken over by the Bihar Economic Offences Unit (EOU).

On June 21, the NTA disclosed that the code matched the papers found in Oasis school, he added.

Interestingly, the principal of the school, Dr Ehsanul Haque, was also the district coordinator for the NEET-UG exam in Hazaribagh and vice-principal Imtiaz Alam was the centre coordinator. 

The CBI, which is probing the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam, has registered several First Information Reports (FIRs) and made nearly 60 arrests so far. 

The NEET-UG exam – conducted by the National Testing Agency for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions – was held on May 5 this year. The exam has been mired in controversy, with allegations of cheating and impersonation. The CBI FIR from Bihar pertains to paper leaks, while those registered in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, are linked to the impersonation of candidates and cheating.

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.

67 Students Scored Perfect 720

Sixty-seven students had scored a perfect 720 in this year’s exam, unprecedented in the NTA’s history, with six from a Haryana centre figuring in the list, raising suspicion about irregularities in the examination. It was alleged that grace marks contributed to the 67 students sharing the top rank.

The number of candidates sharing the top rank was reduced to 61 from 67 as the NTA announced the revised results on July 1 after conducting a retest for 1,563 candidates. Forty-eight per cent of students who were scheduled to retake the exam on June 24 did not turn up. Of the total, 813 (52 per cent) gave the retest and 750 skipped, the data released by the NTA showed.

The exam has also been riddled with allegations of paper leaks which are being probed by the CBI.

New Delhi:

The Rouse Avenue court on Friday granted bail to one Gangadhar Gunde whose counsel claimed that he was wrongly arrested by the CBI due to mistaken identity in an NEET paper case linked to Latur, Maharashtra.

CBI had arrested the accused Gunde on June 26 from Dehradun. This case was initially registered by the Latur Police at Shivaji Nagar Police Station. Later on, the FIR was taken over by the CBI.

Special CBI judge Ankit Singla granted bail to Gangadhar Gunde after hearing arguments of counsel for CBI and the accused.

He has been granted bail on furnishing of a bail bond of Rs 25,000 and a surety bond of the same amount.

Advocate Kailash More counsel for Gangadhar Rangnath Gunde argued that Gunde had been arrested by the CBI on June 26 from Dehradun due to mistaken identity. He is not the actual man for whom CBI was looking for.

It was also submitted that an FIR was lodged by the CBI about the NEET UG exam 2024 against a person whose name is also Gangadhar but the full name was not revealed. N Gangadhar Appa Nanjuthappa was arrested by the CBI later on.

CBI had lodged the case against unknown persons. N Gangadhar Appa Nanjuthappa has been arrested in Bengaluru.

Advocate More also submitted that Gangadhar Gunde’s name surfaced during the investigation as he met one Sanjay Tukaram Jadhav on October 2.

Gunde met him in Osmanabad about his daughter’s matrimonial dispute at her in-law’s house. There Gunde and Jadhav exchanged their mobile numbers. Gunde made a call to Jadhav on October 3, the bail plea stated.

On the other hand, the counsel for the CBI disputed the submissions of the defence counsel. She argued that one suspect Irenna Konagalwar is on the run and only knows who is actual Gangadhar agency was looking for. So as far now, it can’t be said with surety that the present accused is not the same Gangadhar agency was looking for.

Relying upon the statement of arrested teachers Sanjay Tukaram Jadhav and Jalil Umar Khan Pathan, CBI submitted that Konagalwar knew Gangadhar.

She further pointed out that they have arrested another accused N Gangadhar Appa Nanjuthappa. It was also submitted that the mobile number CBI had was being used by Gunde. Jadhav and Gunde had a conversation.

CBI counsel also submitted that Gangadhar has been arrested in the initial FIR registered on June 23, 2024. His name surfaced during the interrogation of Sanjay Tukaram Jadhav and Jalil Umar Khan Pathan, the FIR named the accused persons.

Counsel for CBI submitted in the court that Gandhar has been arrested on the basis of complaint given by the Inspector ATS Maharashtra police against four persons including Gangadhar. The Complaint had his name and his number and he is Delhi Delhi-based person.

Another man N Gangadhar Nanjuthappa also has been arrested.

One accused namely Irenna Konagalwar is on the run, only he can identify who is real Gangadhar, the agency looking for, CBI counsel submitted.

It was also submitted that Gangadhar’s phone CDR is also awaited.

While referring to the conspiracy aspects the CBI counsel submitted that Jadhav and Pathan were contacting and collecting initial token money and admit cards from the NEET Aspirants. They were sending the same to Irenna Konagalwar who in turn gave it to Gangadhar who lives in Delhi to get their marks increased.

It is also submitted that Gunde was arrested on the intervening night of June 25 and 26 in Dehradun in one of the five cases registered by the CBI. He was produced before the Rouse Avenue Court on June 27 and was remanded to CBI custody till June 30. Thereafter he was sent to judicial custody on July 12.

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

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| Photo Credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap

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Parliament Session 2024 LIVE Updates:

Amid student protests over alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) and other competitive exams, the opposition INDIA bloc will raise the issue in both houses of Parliament today. 

The Opposition will try to corner the government even though the day is dedicated to a discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address to Parliament.

In case the matter comes up today, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will respond to it, sources said.

In her address to the joint sitting of Parliament on Thursday, President Droupadi Murmu said the government is fully committed to investigating the recent incidents of paper leaks and ensure that the guilty are punished.

This is the first session of Parliament after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha.

Here are live updates on the Parliament session: