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The CBI has arrested a total of 36 people in connection with the NEET-UG paper leak case. (PTI representative photo)
Some recovered fragments of half-burned question papers enabled investigating agencies to reach designated NEET exam centers from the place of leakage
Pankaj Kumar alias Aditya alias Sahil came from Harbin on the morning of May 5, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in an official statement on Thursday. Oasis School in Zaribagh illegally obtained the NEET-UG 2024 question paper. The question papers were stolen with the connivance of NTA City Coordinator and Principal of Oasis School, Hazaribagh and Center Director and Vice Principal of Oasis School.
On the morning of May 5, the box containing the NEET UG 2024 question paper was brought to the school and stored in the control room. Minutes after the box arrived, the principal and vice-chancellor illegally allowed Pankaj to enter the room where the box was kept without authorization and Pankaj used complex tools to open the box and remove the question papers. The box has been seized.
The agency said the stolen question papers were solved by a team of solvers in Hazaribagh that day and shared with certain selected students who paid the accused.
Pankaj, who was absconding, was traced and arrested along with the principal, vice-chancellor and assistant. Some of the recovered half-burned question paper fragments enabled the investigating agencies to reach the designated NEET exam center from the place of leakage.
Candidates who have obtained solved papers are being tracked. All the solvers, all MBBS students from reputed universities, have been identified and most of them have been arrested.
The CBI has conducted searches at 33 locations so far. So far, 36 people have been arrested in the case, 15 of them by the Bihar police. So far, several incriminating pieces of evidence have been collected. The investigation is currently ongoing.
