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Allegations of irregularities, including document leaks, have triggered protests against NEET in several cities. (PTI file)
With the new arrests, the total number of people the agency has detained so far in six cases of alleged medical examination violations has reached 21.
As the investigation into alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG exam continues, the CBI on Saturday arrested an NIT-Jamshedpur B-Tech graduate and two MBBS students in the question paper leak case.
The people arrested today, who played an important role in the Congress, were the “masterminds” who allegedly cracked the question papers to obtain money, according to the central probe agency.
The two MBBS students arrested today – Kumar Mangalam Bishnoi (second year) and Deepender Sharma (first year) – hail from a medical college in Rajasthan.
The agency believes they have solved the problem of question papers stolen from the suitcase of the National Test Agency (NTA) in Hazaribagh by engineer Pankaj Kumar.
The arrestees were part of the solver mod in which five MBBS students have been arrested. They said the answers have been given to NEET UG aspirants who have availed the services of the group.
Preliminary investigation also revealed that the two “solvers” were present in Hazaribagh on May 5, the date of nationwide NEET-UG inspection.
They said the new arrests bring the total number of people the agency has detained so far in six cases of alleged medical examination violations to 21.
They also said that the third person arrested on Saturday – Sashikant Paswan alias Sashi alias Paswan, is a graduate of National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur. Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur – in collusion with Kumar and Rockey who were also arrested earlier.
The agency said Paswan was the mastermind and one of the masterminds in the document leak case.
The document leak case was taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation from the Bihar police.
The CBI has arrested Pankaj Kumar, who stole the paper, and Raju Singh, who helped him in the process. One of the masterminds – Rocky – was also arrested by the agency.
On Thursday, it arrested a surrenderer, Surender Sharma, who also helped Kumar in Hazaribagh.
The central investigation agency, which is probing alleged irregularities in the medical entrance examination, has lodged six FIRs. The FIR in Bihar relates to document leakage, while the remaining FIRs in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra relate to candidate impersonation and cheating.
According to a reference from the Union Education Ministry, the agency's own FIR relates to a “comprehensive investigation” into alleged irregularities in NEET-UG 2024.
NEET-UG is conducted by NTA for admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions. This year's exam was held on May 5 at 4,750 exam centers in 571 cities, 14 of which were abroad. More than 2.3 million candidates took the exam.
