A team from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) visited a school in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh and quizzed its principal in connection with the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance test NEET-UG. The central agency also questioned the school's vice principal, deputy vice principal and a few teachers in connection with the matter.
The CBI team interrogated Dr Ehsanul Haque, the principal of Oasis School and the district coordinator for the NEET-UG exam in Hazaribagh, for several hours. According to sources, they took him to a guest house in Charhi, where he and several other individuals were questioned until late evening on Wednesday.
8-member CBI team reaches Hazaribagh
Hazaribagh Sadar's Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Kumar Shivashish revealed that while they became aware of the ongoing investigation through various channels, there has been no official communication directed to their department regarding the matter. On Wednesday, 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.
CBI tight-lipped on probe
The bank had reportedly received the question papers sent by a courier service operator in an e-rickshaw, the sources said. The CBI team members, however, refused to divulge anything to the media. They said that they would submit the investigation report to their headquarters. Haque, while talking to media persons on Tuesday, had denied any tempering of question papers in Hazaribag and termed the allegations as baseless.
Earlier on June 23, a three-member probe team from the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police visited the school, focusing on the administration of the test and the procedures involved in unlocking the digital locks on question paper boxes. This visit follows the detention of six individuals from Jharkhand's Deoghar district on June 21, linked to suspected irregularities in the medical entrance exam.
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.
(With inputs from PTI)
