CBI arrests 4 AIIMS Patna medicos in NEET paper leak case

New Delhi: In the latest update on the NEET 2024 paper leak case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its ongoing investigation recently arrested four medical students from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Patna in connection.

According to the PTI, the four students from the 2021 batch have been taken into custody for questioning regarding their alleged involvement in the case. Among the four students, three are in the third year and one is in the second year. 

After their arrest, the agency sealed the rooms of the students, their laptops and mobile phones as part of the investigation. As per India Today news report, Three of the students are from Bihar, and one is from Dhanbad in Jharkhand.

Further details on the students being quizzed were not immediately known.

Also read- CBI Arrests Engineer Who Stole NEET 2024 Paper From NTA's Trunk

Medical Dialogues team on Tuesday reported the arrest of 2 individuals including a key accused for allegedly stealing the NEET question paper from a National Testing Agency's (NTA) trunk in Hazaribagh in Jharkhand.

With the two arrests, the total number of persons arrested in connection with cases pertaining to leakage, impersonation and other irregularities in the medical entrance exam has now reached 14.

The agency 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.

The CBI also arrested one Raju Singh who allegedly helped Kumar in stealing the paper and passing them on to other gang members. Singh was arrested from Hazaribagh.

The CBI, which is probing the alleged irregularities in the medical-entrance exam, has lodged six FIRs. The FIR from Bihar pertains to paper leak while the remaining ones from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra are regarding 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 NEET-UG 2024.

SC to hear pleas Today

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Thursday a batch of petitions related to the controversy-ridden medical entrance exam NEET-UG 2024.

According to the cause list of July 18 uploaded on the apex court's website, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra would hear more than 40 pleas, including those filed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) seeking transfer of cases pending against it in various high courts on the NEET-UG row to the Supreme Court to avoid multiplicity of litigations, PTI reports

On July 11, the top court had adjourned till July 18 the hearing on the pleas, including those seeking cancellation of the exam, re-test and probe into alleged malpractices in the conduct of NEET-UG 2024, as the responses of the Centre and the NTA were yet to be received by some parties.

The bench had observed that it has received a status report from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the progress made in the probe into the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the exam.

In an additional affidavit filed in the apex court last week, the Centre has said data analytics of the results of NEET-UG 2024 was conducted by IIT-Madras which found there was neither any indication of "mass malpractice" nor a localised set of candidates benefiting from it and scoring abnormally high marks.

The government's assertion assumes significance in view of the observations made by the top court on July 8 that it may order a re-test if there were large-scale malpractices in holding the exam.

The Centre's fresh affidavit has said experts from IIT-Madras have found that the marks distribution follows the bell-shaped curve that is witnessed in any large-scale examination, indicating no abnormality. A bell curve describes the shape of data conforming to a normal distribution.

The affidavit said for 2024-25, the counselling process for undergraduate seats will be conducted in four rounds starting from the third week of July.

The NTA has also filed a separate additional affidavit on the similar lines and said it has carried out an analysis of distribution of marks at the national, state and city level.

"This analysis indicates that the distribution of marks is quite normal and there seems to be no extraneous factor, which would influence the distribution of marks," the NTA said in its affidavit, which also gave details of the system in place for ensuring confidential printing of question papers, their transportation and distribution.

While hearing the pleas on July 8, the top court had observed that the sanctity of the NEET-UG 2024 has been "breached".

Saying that a re-test may be ordered if the entire process was affected, the bench had sought details from the NTA and the CBI, including the timing and manner of the alleged paper leak, besides the number of wrongdoers to understand the extent of irregularities claimed by the petitioners.

More than 23.33 lakh students had taken the test on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including in 14 cities overseas.

The Centre and the NTA, in their earlier affidavits filed in the apex court, had said that scrapping the exam would be "counterproductive" and "seriously jeopardise" lakhs of honest candidates in the absence of any proof of large-scale breach of confidentiality.

The 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.

NEET Controversy

This year's NEET UG 2024 exam was mired in controversies after a paper leak scam came to light. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that around 13 people, including four examinees and their family members, were arrested in Bihar for their alleged involvement in the paper leak of the NEET-UG exam. Patna police sources had previously claimed that the NEET-UG question papers along with their answers were provided to around 20 aspirants a day before the date of the exam i.e. May 5, 2024.

Then, the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police, which took over the investigation, revealed that the brokers involved in the NEET paper leak scam took between Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh from each of the medical aspirants in exchange for giving them the question paper of the NEET UG 2024 question paper ahead of the examination.

Multiple pleas have been filed before the High Courts and the Supreme Court seeking an investigation into the alleged paper leak scam. Some of the pleas demanded the scrapping of the NEET UG 2024 exam and holding a retest.

Meanwhile, during the case proceedings, NTA earlier decided to withdraw the grace marks awarded to 1563 candidates and hold an optional retest for those candidates. Those who did not opt for the retest were allowed to retain their original marks, without the grace marks.

The matter is now being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Central Government on June 22, 2024, handed over the charge of investigating in the alleged irregularities in the NEET UG 2024 examination to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Earlier, while considering the NEET-related pleas, the Supreme Court had refused to defer the counselling/seat allotment process scheduled to commence on July 6. However, the bench had orally observed that the admissions would be subject to the final outcome of the petitions and if the exams were set aside, the counselling would get invalidated consequentially.

The Top Court had also expressed its concern over the alleged discrepancies in the NEET UG 2024 exam. The Court had noted that even '0.001& negligence' in conducting the NEET-UG 2024 exams would be looked into with all seriousness considering the immense labor put in by the candidates for the prestigious examination.

Also read- NEET Row, Exemption Demand In Tamil Nadu: Annamalai Demands White Paper On Medical Admissions Pre And Post-NEET From State