NEET-UG paper leak case: 8th medical student held | Patna News – Times of India
Patna: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested one more medical student in Patna in connection with the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 paper leak case, making him the eighth MBBS student to be nabbed in this connection so far.
Arrested youth Sandeep Kumar, a third-year student of a medical college in Bhilwara, Rajasthan, was called to Patna on Saturday by the central agency for questioning, during which he confessed to his involvement in solving the question paper of NEET-UG.Following this, he was formally arrested and produced at a special court in the city, which granted his five-day custody to the agency, even as the CBI sought seven days’ remand.
According to the CBI sources, Sandeep was part of a “solver gang” who, along with other medical students, had solved the NEET-UG question paper at Hazaribagh in Jharkhand before the May 5 exam conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
Apart from Sandeep, the investigating agency had arrested four MBBS students from AIIMS-Patna — Karan Jain, who hails from Araria, Chandan Singh from Siwan, Kumar Sanu from Patna and Rahul Anand from Dhanbad, Jharkhand — on July 18, besides first-year MBBS student of Ranchi’s Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) on July 19. Apart from them, Kumar Manglam Bishnoi and Deepender Kumar of Rajasthan’s Bharatpur Medical College were arrested on July 20.
They reportedly acted as a “solver module gang”, which solved the paper allegedly stolen from the NTA trunk in Hazaribagh by Pankaj Kumar, alias Aditya, a 2017-batch civil engineer from National Institute of Technology-Jamshedpur, Jharkhand.
Mastermind Sanjeev Mukhiya, alias Lutan, and his associate and relative Rakesh Ranjan, alias Rocky, had allegedly sent this solved paper to their associates in Bihar and Jharkhand, and made the NEET-UG candidates memorize it at a safe house on the outskirts of Patna. Rocky was arrested on July 11, however, Mukhiya is still evading arrest.
Presently, four people are in the CBI’s custody for interrogation in the case.
We also published the following articles recently
CBI filed its first chargesheet in the NEET-UG paper leak case against 13 accused, citing the leak as localized at Oasis school in Hazaribagh. The investigation utilized AI and advanced forensics to gather evidence, leading to the arrests of 40 individuals and searches at 58 locations. Further investigations are ongoing against other suspects.
Health Minister J P Nadda defended NEET, emphasizing that medical education was riddled with corruption before its implementation. He highlighted that postgraduate seats were sold for exorbitant amounts. Before NEET, students faced significant travel and corruption in the admission process. Naddas intervention came during a discussion on a private member’s bill by Rajya Sabha member M Mohmed Abdulla.
The Centre addressed various allegations related to NEET in the Rajya Sabha, assuring measures to protect students’ best interests. Minister Anupriya Patel confirmed that NEET-UG counselling would start from August 14 and conclude on October 24. The government emphasized a transparent online counselling process for seat allotment, promoting convenience and accessibility for candidates.
