June 28th 2024.
The city of New Delhi was abuzz with news of the recent arrests made by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). As per officials, the principal and vice principal of a school in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh were taken into custody in connection with the NEET-UG paper leak case. Ehsanul Haque, the principal of Oasis School, had been appointed as the city coordinator for the medical entrance exam by the National Testing Agency on May 5. Along with him, vice principal Imtiaz Alam was also designated as the NTA's observer and centre coordinator at the Oasis School.
Furthermore, it was reported that the CBI was also questioning five more individuals from the district in relation to the paper leak case. After thorough questioning, Haque and Alam were arrested by the federal probe agency. Both of them had come under the scanner during a previous investigation by the Bihar Police's Economic Offences Unit. The police team had uncovered burnt question papers of NEET-UG during a raid at a hideout used by the solver gang.
In a statement, the EOU had revealed that the "leaked" NEET-UG question paper was allegedly obtained from the Oasis School in Hazaribagh by the notorious Sanjeev Kumar alias Lutan Mukhiya gang. The investigators had also matched a partially burnt question paper found from a safe house in Patna with the reference question paper provided by the NTA, confirming the origin of the leak. However, the probe could not establish a clear culprit behind the alleged paper leak.
According to officials, the investigation had also uncovered that the guidelines for opening the question paper boxes were not properly followed by the authorities in Hazaribagh. In media interviews, Haque had claimed that the box containing the question papers could not be opened due to a malfunction in the digital lock. He had then contacted the NTA, who instructed him to use a cutter to open the box. The boxes containing the question papers were equipped with two locks - a manual one that required a key and cutter, and a digital lock that would open with a beep sound 45 minutes before the exam.
The CBI had registered a total of six FIRs in the NEET-UG paper leak case, including one based on a reference from the Union Education Ministry and five from different states where the probe agency had taken over the investigation. On Thursday, the CBI made its first arrests in the case, taking two people into custody in Patna and recording statements from three candidates in Gujarat who had allegedly sought help to clear the exam.
NEET-UG is a highly competitive exam conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses in both government and private institutions across the country. This year's exam was held on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 abroad, with over 23 lakh candidates appearing for the test. The first FIR by the CBI was registered on Sunday, a day after the Ministry of Education announced that the probe into the alleged irregularities in the exam would be handed over to the central agency. The demand for a CBI investigation had been raised by a section of protesting students.
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