Two accused sent to CBI remand in NEET UG-2024 paper leak case | Patna News – Times of India
Patna: The special court of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Patna on Wednesday sent two accused in alleged NEET UG-2024 paper leak case to three-day CBI remand.
Accused Baldev Kumar alias Chintu and Mukesh Kumar, who are associated to the notorious Sanjiv Kumar alias Lutan Mukhia gang, were remanded to the CBI custody. The remand was granted by the court on the special request of the CBI team probing the case.The central agency had taken over the probe from the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar police on June 24.
The CBI had registered an FIR on June 23, following a referral from the Union education ministry regarding alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG exam conducted on May 5. The agency presented the FIR to the court and sought custody of the two suspects, who were nabbed by the EOU from Deoghar in Jharkhand.
According to the allegations, Baldev had received a solved answersheet in PDF format a day before the exam. The CBI is also looking for other gang members who are currently absconding.
An EOU source said that the accused, Chintu, during the police interrogation after his arrest in Deoghar had revealed that around 35 students at Learn and Play School in KhemniChak, Patna, were given question papers and answers to memorize. “Approximately 10-12 copies were printed using a wi-fi printer. The biology question paper and answers were received first on Whatsapp, followed by the physics, and finally, the chemistry questions and answers,” said the sources.
Meanwhile a CBI team on Wednesday questioned the chief manager of State Bank of India’s main branch and a school principal, who is also the district coordinator for the medical entrance NEET-UG examinations this year whose question paper was leaked. The bank manager was purportedly custodian of the papers. The team interrogated the principal of Oasis School, Dr Ehsanul Haque, for seven hours. He was later taken to the Central Coalfields Limited’s (CCL) guest house in Charhi, nearly 16km outside the city, along with five others.
His laptop was also seized by the agency. It was, however, unclear whether Haque and others were arrested by the sleuths. The 12-member team, which arrived here from Patna late on Tuesday night, fanned out on Wednesday evening. While one team visited the school premises on Mandai Road under Lohsinghna police station accompanied by local policemen, another team entered SBI’s main branch and questioned its chief manager about the receipt of the question paper for the examinations.
“The sleuths questioned the bank official about when and how he received the question paper sets which were kept at the bank. The manager told the sleuths that he received the question papers delivered by a courier company from the Oreya area in an e-rickshaw,” a source told TOI. The CBI team also inspected the strongroom in which the 13 steel boxes, which contained the question papers of the five centres, were stored in the bank. They also examined the CCTV footage and the videography which was done to maintain security and transparency. The CBI team then visited the courier company’s office at Oreya locality. “It was in this locality that a van allegedly dropped the parcel containing a steel box carrying the question papers and left. The CBI team, however, found that the courier company’s office was closed,” the source added. NEET-UG exams were held on May 5 across five schools in Hazaribag.
(With inputs from Abhijit Sen in Hazaribag)
Accused Baldev Kumar alias Chintu and Mukesh Kumar, who are associated to the notorious Sanjiv Kumar alias Lutan Mukhia gang, were remanded to the CBI custody. The remand was granted by the court on the special request of the CBI team probing the case.The central agency had taken over the probe from the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar police on June 24.
The CBI had registered an FIR on June 23, following a referral from the Union education ministry regarding alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG exam conducted on May 5. The agency presented the FIR to the court and sought custody of the two suspects, who were nabbed by the EOU from Deoghar in Jharkhand.
According to the allegations, Baldev had received a solved answersheet in PDF format a day before the exam. The CBI is also looking for other gang members who are currently absconding.
An EOU source said that the accused, Chintu, during the police interrogation after his arrest in Deoghar had revealed that around 35 students at Learn and Play School in KhemniChak, Patna, were given question papers and answers to memorize. “Approximately 10-12 copies were printed using a wi-fi printer. The biology question paper and answers were received first on Whatsapp, followed by the physics, and finally, the chemistry questions and answers,” said the sources.
Meanwhile a CBI team on Wednesday questioned the chief manager of State Bank of India’s main branch and a school principal, who is also the district coordinator for the medical entrance NEET-UG examinations this year whose question paper was leaked. The bank manager was purportedly custodian of the papers. The team interrogated the principal of Oasis School, Dr Ehsanul Haque, for seven hours. He was later taken to the Central Coalfields Limited’s (CCL) guest house in Charhi, nearly 16km outside the city, along with five others.
His laptop was also seized by the agency. It was, however, unclear whether Haque and others were arrested by the sleuths. The 12-member team, which arrived here from Patna late on Tuesday night, fanned out on Wednesday evening. While one team visited the school premises on Mandai Road under Lohsinghna police station accompanied by local policemen, another team entered SBI’s main branch and questioned its chief manager about the receipt of the question paper for the examinations.
“The sleuths questioned the bank official about when and how he received the question paper sets which were kept at the bank. The manager told the sleuths that he received the question papers delivered by a courier company from the Oreya area in an e-rickshaw,” a source told TOI. The CBI team also inspected the strongroom in which the 13 steel boxes, which contained the question papers of the five centres, were stored in the bank. They also examined the CCTV footage and the videography which was done to maintain security and transparency. The CBI team then visited the courier company’s office at Oreya locality. “It was in this locality that a van allegedly dropped the parcel containing a steel box carrying the question papers and left. The CBI team, however, found that the courier company’s office was closed,” the source added. NEET-UG exams were held on May 5 across five schools in Hazaribag.
(With inputs from Abhijit Sen in Hazaribag)
