NEET 2024 Paper Was Leaked! 4 Accused Confess to Bihar Police

Patna: In a shocking revelation concerning the irregularities in the NEET 2024 exam, four arrested men have confessed that the question paper for MBBS entrance test was leaked the previous night, NDTV has reported.

These four accused include NEET aspirant Yadav, his uncle Sikandar, who is a Junior Engineer at Danapur Municipal Council, and two others-  Nitish Kumar and Amit Anand. They have confessed that they received the question paper for the National Eligibility-and-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 examination on the day before the exam date i.e. May 5, 2024. 

As per these accused, they were made to memorize the paper. In their statement to the Bihar police officials, these four accused stated that the exact questions were asked in the exam the next day.

Also Read: NEET paper leak row: Accused claims link with Bihar Minister during interrogation

Among these four, Yadav, who was taking coaching for the MBBS entrance exam at a Kota-based coaching hub, said that his uncle asked him to return since he had planned to leak the paper, reports NDTV.

"I was made to read and memorize it at night. When I went for the exam, I found the same questions which I had memorized correctly. After the exam, the police came and caught me, and I confessed my crime," Yadav said.

Meanwhile, his uncle Sikandar has claimed that two other accused, Nitish Kumar and Amit Anand, told him that they could leak the question paper of any competitive exam and it would cost around Rs 30-32 lakh for each aspirant to clear the entrance test.

"I agreed and told them I have four boys (who need help in passing the exam). On June 4 night, I took them with me and Nitish Kumar and Amit Anand gave them the question paper. Out of greed, I had also asked them for ₹ 40 lakh each instead of ₹ 30 lakh," Sikandar told the cops, adding that he was caught with the admit cards of the students during a vehicle check the next day and confessed his crime. 

Recently, accused candidate Yadav claimed that he got support from a Bihar Minister. He showed a letter on the letterhead of the said minister and claimed that using the said letter, he stayed in an NHAI government guest house in Patna.

This year's National Eligibility-and-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 Examination was mired in controversies after the allegations of paper leak came into light. 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.

Meanwhile, NEET aspirants across the country have been protesting against the alleged paper leak issue in NEET UG 2024 and the National Testing Agency's policy of awarding grace marks to 1563 candidates. While finally the NTA decided to scrap the grace marks, the issue of alleged paper leak is still unsolved.

Although earlier, the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had denied such allegations of paper leak, recently he assured action against NTA officials if they were found guilty of the "irregularities" in the conduct of the MBBS entrance exam.

Speaking to ANI on the matter, the Minister said, "On the recommendations of the Supreme Court, the order has been given for re-test of 1,563 candidates. Some irregularities have come to light in two places. I assure students and parents that the government has taken this seriously." Improvement in NTA, which conducts NEET exam, is needed, he added.

The NEET 2024 issue has now taken a political turn as opposition parties are accusing the government over the allegations of rigging, paper leaks, and corruption. Recently Congress leader Rahul Gandhi argued that the BJP-ruled states were the "epicentre of paper leak".

While hearing pleas concerning the NEET examination, the apex court had on June 18 said that even if there was "0.001 per cent negligence" on the part of anyone in the conduct of the examination, it should be thoroughly dealt with.