NEET-UG paper leak case: Key accused among two more arrested by CBI

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The officials on Tuesday said that the CBI has arrested two persons including a key accused in the NEET-UG paper leak case who allegedly stole the paper from a National Testing Agency's trunk in Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, reported news agency PTI.

With the two arrests, the total number of persons arrested in connection with the NEET-UG paper leak case, impersonation and other irregularities in the medical entrance exam has now reached 14, they said, reported PTI.

The officials said that the agency has arrested Pankaj Kumar alias Aditya, a 2017-batch civil engineer from the National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur, who allegedly stole the NEET-UG paper from the NTA trunk in Hazaribagh, reported PTI.

Kumar, a resident of Bokaro, was arrested from Patna, they said.

The CBI has also arrested one Raju Singh who allegedly helped Kumar in stealing the paper and passing them on to other gang members, they said, adding that Singh was arrested from Hazaribagh, reported PTI.

The agency, which is probing the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam, has registered six FIRs. The FIR from Bihar pertains to leakage of paper while the remaining from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra are linked to 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 examination, reported PTI.

NEET-UG is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions. This year, the exam was conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 abroad. More than 23 lakh candidates had appeared for the test.

Meanwhile, No normalisation of marks, proper communication in case of schedule changes and infrastructure checks at exam centres are among thousands of suggestions the Centre's high-level exam reform panel has received in response to its call for recommendations, reported PTI.

Tasked with reviewing the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA), the panel headed by former ISRO chief R Radhakrishnan has received over 37,000 suggestions from stakeholders, including students, parents, coaching institutions, school teachers, academic institutions and even career counsellors, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)