NEET-UG paper leak: In a major development, The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested the principal of a private school in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh who is under the scanner in connection with the NEET-UG examination paper leak case on Friday. The federal agency arrested Oasis School principal Ehsanul Haque and vice principal Imtiaz Alam. Principal Haque was the district coordinator for the NEET-UG exam in Hazaribagh, while vice principal Alam was the coordinator for Oasis School. According to the information, the duo have been taken to Bihar from Hazaribagh after being arrested. The CBI is also questioning five more people from the district in connection with the paper leak case.
The development comes a day after the CBI quizzed the principal, vice principal, and a few other teachers of the Oasis School in connection with the matter. They were reportedly taken to a guest house in Charhi, where the principal and several other individuals were questioned until late evening on Wednesday, June 26. On June 26, an eight-member team conducted a thorough visit to the school involved in the investigation. Additionally, some members of this team extended their inquiries to the main branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) in the district. This visit was prompted by reports indicating that the bank manager had been responsible for the safekeeping of the question papers.
EOU team of Bihar Police visited school
Earlier on June 23, a three-member probe team from the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police visited the Oasis School, focusing on the administration of the test and the procedures involved in unlocking the digital locks on question paper boxes. This visit followed the detention of six individuals from Jharkhand's Deoghar district on June 21, linked to suspected irregularities in the medical entrance exam.
CBI arrested two people from Patna
Meanwhile, on Thursday (June 27), the CBI arrested two people from Bihar's Patna in connection with the alleged NEET-UG exam paper leak case. They were identified as Manish Kumar and Ashutosh Kumar. As per the officials, they allegedly provided safe premises to the aspirants before the examination where they were given leaked papers and answer keys. Manish Prakash was responsible for transporting candidates to Learn Play School in his car while Ashutosh used to arrange the premises at Safe House for the students, who were accommodated in his house.
NEET-UG 2024
It should be mentioned here that the NEET-UG, conducted by the NTA on May 5, saw participation from approximately 24 lakh candidates. Although results were declared on June 4, they were swiftly overshadowed by allegations of question paper leaks in Bihar and reports of other irregularities across different states. Meanwhile, the central government has also drawn flak over alleged irregularities in NEET-UG.