Patna: The economic offences unit (EOU) of Bihar Police, which is probing the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak, has found medical aspirants paid huge sums ranging from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh each to ‘brokers’ involved in the racket, to get access to question papers ahead of the examination on May 5.
EOU, which took over the probe from Patna Police on Friday, has seized several documents, including bank cheques and roll code of candidates, from the flats of Nitish Kumar and Amit Anand, who were running an education consultancy firm that promised to help examinees in competitive exams, and were arrested on May 5. So far, 13 people have been arrested in the case, including four aspirants, three parents and two associates of Amit. EOU will take the accused on remand on Monday for interrogation.
The arrested candidates told police that about 35 medical aspirants were taken to an apartment at Learn Boys Hostel in Patna’s Ram Krishna Nagar locality, where they were provided the question paper. “The aspirants disclosed that the actual NEET question paper was similar to the one they received from the broker a day before the exam,” said Manavjit Singh Dhillon, deputy inspector general, EOU.
“We will contact National Testing Agency that conducts the exam to provide the details of students whose roll codes we found in the flat. We are verifying the details,” DIG Dhillon told TOI.
Investigations revealed that Amit’s consultancy firm approached candidates and their parents through messaging app groups. Amit was in contact with a ‘broker’, Sikander Yadavendu, employed as a junior engineer in Danapur Nagar Parishad, who was apprehended by police before the exam.
Revealing the modus operandi of the racket, the DIG said after the candidates reached the flat, their mobile phones were taken away. The question papers were burnt after being shown to the aspirants. “We have got the contact number of one of the main accused from the mobile phones of the aspirants.
He was the one who rented the flat and contacted the aspirants to reach the location. Raids are on to arrest him,” Dhillon said. He said the modus operandi was similar to the paper leak of Bihar Public Service Commission Teacher Recruitment Exam-3.0, held in March. EOU is probing if the same people are involved in both leaks.
Nitish, had been arrested in the TRE paper leak case, too, and was out on bail.
