In connection with the NEET-UG paper leak case, the CBI detained the vice principal and principle of a school in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, on Friday, according to officials.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) named Ehsanul Haque, the head of Oasis School, the city coordinator for Hazaribagh for the medical entrance exam on May 5.
Officials stated that Vice Principal Imtiaz Alam has been assigned as the NTA’s observer and the centre coordinator at the Oasis School. They also mentioned that five additional district residents are being questioned by the CBI over the paper leak issue.
Following extensive interrogation, the federal inquiry agency reportedly took Haque and Alam into custody.
The Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the Bihar Police, which had previously been looking into the case, scrutinised both of the suspects during the investigation. When the squad raided a criminal gang hideaway, they discovered burned NEET-UG question papers, according to officials.
The EOU said in a statement that the infamous Sanjeev Kumar, aka Lutan Mukhiya gang, reportedly stole the “leaked” NEET-UG question paper from the Oasis School in Hazaribagh.
It had stated that the investigators have verified the source of the leak by comparing a partially burned question paper that was recovered from the Patna safe house with the reference question paper that was given by the NTA.
Officials stated that it was unable to conclusively identify the perpetrator of the purported paper leak, nevertheless.
They claimed that the investigation had also revealed that the Hazaribagh officials had not appropriately followed the established procedures for opening the question paper boxes.
Haque has insisted in media appearances that the reason the question paper box could not be opened was that the computerised lock inside it, which was meant to open on its own, had broken.
After that, according to Haque, he got in touch with the NTA, who requested that he open the box using a cutter.
Question paper boxes contain two locks: a digital lock that opens with a buzzer 45 minutes before the test, and a manual lock that needs to be opened with a key and cutter.
Regarding the NEET-UG paper leak issue, the CBI has filed six formal complaints: five from the states where it assumed investigative authority, and one based on a referral from the Union Education Ministry. Three cases in Rajasthan and one each in Gujarat and Bihar have been taken over by the investigation agency.
In the NEET-UG paper leak case, the CBI made its first arrests on Thursday, detaining two suspects in Patna while three students in Gujarat who had reportedly asked for assistance to pass the exam recorded their statements with the investigative body.
For admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other relevant courses in public and private universities across the nation, NTA administers NEET-UG. The exam this year was held on May 5 at 4,750 locations throughout 571 cities, including 14 overseas. More than 23 lakh applicants took the test.
One day after the ministry declared it will turn over the investigation into the purported anomalies in the exam’s conduct to the central agency, the first CBI FIR was filed on Sunday.
Some of the students who were demonstrating called for a CBI investigation.
