The Bihar government, on Sunday evening, issued a notification transferring the case regarding purported irregularities in NEET-UG to the CBI. This decision allows the central agency to assume control of the investigation. The move followed the arrest by Bihar Police's Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of five additional suspects in Deoghar, Jharkhand, on Saturday. With these arrests, the total number of individuals apprehended has risen to 18.
The CBI filed an FIR over the NEET “paper leak” on a reference from the Union education ministry, amid countrywide protests and litigation by students for a probe into the claims. In its notification, the Bihar Home Department granted consent to the CBI to investigate the FIR dated June 5, registered at Shastrinagar Police Station in Patna.
“The case registered under section 407,408,409,120B of the IPC, which relates to irregularities in NEET UG 2024 examination held on May 5. The CBI team is expected to soon visit Patna to take over the investigation of the case. The EOU will hand over all the updated case records to the CBI,” it said.
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According to a statement from the EOU, the five individuals arrested have been identified as Baldev Kumar, Mukesh Kumar, Panku Kumar, Rajeev Kumar, and Paramjeet Singh, all residents of Nalanda.
Baldev Kumar, linked with the infamous Sanjeev Kumar alias Lutan Mukhiya gang, allegedly received the solved answer sheet of the NEET-UG exam in PDF format on his mobile phone one day prior to the examination.
The NEET-UG exam, which involved approximately 24 lakh candidates, was conducted by the NTA on May 5. The results were announced on June 4. Following this, there were allegations of paper leaks and irregularities reported across Bihar and other states. The exam is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.