NEET question paper leaked and sold for 30 lakh rupees per head: 13 arrested in Bihar; question paper sold to 35 people

NEW DELHI: The claim of Test agency and central government that NEET UG question paper was not leaked has been debunked. The Economic Offenses Unit (EOU) has found that NEET question papers were leaked and sold for Rs 30 lakh per head in Bihar.

13 people including four members of the question paper mafia and four students and their parents were arrested. The preliminary information is that the question paper was leaked to 35 people.The National Testing Agency (NTA) had reiterated that the question paper has not been leaked even after the grace marks of 1563 students were canceled and a retest was forced due to the intervention of the Supreme Court.

The exam was on May 5. The statement of an arrested student Ayush Kumar said that he got the question paper a day before the exam. Six post-dated checks issued by the students' parents have been recovered. Police have sent notices to seven Bihar natives and UP and Maharashtra natives who appeared for the exam. An eight-member team headed by EOU SP (Administration) Madan Kumar Anand is investigating the case.

The incident unfolded when four people, including junior engineer Sikandar Prasad of Samastipur, were arrested by the Patna police. Students Ayush Kumar, Abhishek Kumar, Anurag Yadav and Sivanandan Kumar and their parents were caught on the basis of the admit cards found in the car they were traveling in.

Question paper was handed over in a rented room

• Ayush said that he received the NEET question paper on Saturday night, May 4. The same question paper was distributed for the exam the next day
• Question paper was given to him and some students in a rented room. They took the exam by memorizing the answers to the questions
• Remnants of burnt question papers, mobile phones, and admit cards were found during a house search in Ramakrishna Nagar, Patna.

Mafia boss was accused before too

• The leader of the group, Sanjeev Singh, a native of Nalanda, has been accused in question paper leak cases before as well. He has not been caught
• His wife Mamta Devi contested the Harnaut constituency on Lok Janshakti ticket in 2020 assembly elections and lost.
• His son Dr Shivakumar was earlier arrested in Madhya Pradesh PSC question paper leak case and served jail term.