NEW DELHI, July 20: As the investigation into the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the NEET-UG exam continues, the CBI on Saturday arrested an NIT-Jamshedpur B-Tech graduate and two MBBS students in the paper leak case.
According to the central probe agency, those arrested on Saturday played a significant role as “masterminds” who allegedly solved the exam papers for money.
The two MBBS students, who were arrested today – Kumar Mangalam Bishnoi (2nd year) and Deepender Sharma (1st year) are from a medical school in Rajasthan. The agency believes that they had solved the exam papers stolen by Pankaj Kumar, an engineer, from a National Testing Agency (NTA) trunk in Hazaribagh.
The arrested people were part of the solver module in which five MBBS students had already been arrested. The answers were handed over to NEET UG aspirants who had availed the services of the gang, they said.
The preliminary probe also revealed that the two “solvers” were present in Hazaribagh on May 5, the date the NEET-UG examination was conducted across the country. With the fresh arrests, the total number of people held so far by the agency in six cases related to the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam has now reached 21, they said.
They also said the third person arrested on Saturday — Sashikant Paswan alias Sashi alias Pasu, a B.Tech (Electrical) pass out from the National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur — was acting in tandem with Kumar and Rockey, who was also arrested earlier.
The agency alleged that Paswan was one of the kingpins and masterminds in the paper leak case. The paper leak case was taken over by the CBI from the Bihar Police. The CBI has already arrested Pankaj Kumar, who stole the paper, and Raju Singh who had helped him in the process. One of the masterminds — Rockey — was also arrested by the agency. On Thursday, it arrested one Surender Sharma, who also helped Kumar in Hazaribagh.
The central probe agency, which is investigating the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam, has lodged six FIRs. The FIR from Bihar pertains to paper leaks while the remaining ones from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra are regarding impersonation of candidates and cheating.
The agency’s own FIR, on a reference from the Union Education Ministry, pertains to a “comprehensive investigation” into the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024.
(Manas Dasgupta)
