NEET 2024 paper leak case: Patna CBI court frames charges against 52 accused, trial to begin on October 1

Patna: The trial in the NEET UG 2024 paper leak case is set to begin after a special CBI court in Patna framed charges against 52 accused.

Special Judge Mohammad Rustam of CBI Court-II directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to start presenting witnesses and documentary evidence from October 1.

The CBI had chargesheeted 54 accused in the case. However, proceedings against two accused were separated. The agency did not file a chargesheet against Sanjeev Mukhiya due to insufficient evidence against him.

Also read- NEET paper leak case: CBI files 2nd chargesheet against 6 accused including Hazaribagh School Principal

Among those facing trial are a School principal, vice-principal, and another accused. The CBI will begin presenting witnesses and evidence before the special court from Oct 1, as per TOI report.

Medical Dialogues had reported that the CBI, back in October 2024, filed the chargesheet in the NEET paper theft case in Patna, before the Special Judge Court for CBI, Patna. The investigation revealed that the NEET UG 2024 question paper was stolen from the control room of a  School in Hazaribagh on May 5. The theft occurred after the trunks containing the question papers arrived from the bank vault.

The accused, Kumar, was allowed entry into the control room by the school’s Principal and Vice Principal. Kumar tampered with the hinges of the trunk containing the question papers, removed one question paper, photographed all its pages, replaced the paper and resealed the trunk, and exited the control room.

Following this, the solved question papers were then distributed to the candidates present at a Guest House, Hazaribagh. Further, the solved question paper was scanned and sent digitally to predetermined locations where the members of the accused gang received it.

Only those who paid in advance could enter these locations. After their exams, the candidates were prohibited from taking any printed copies with them. The CBI found half-burnt pieces of the question paper at a Play School Patna, which led them to the school.

NEET Controversy

NEET UG 2024 exam was mired in controversies after a paper leak scam came to 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.

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 were 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.

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

Also read- NEET paper leak prime accused arrested