CBI arrests ‘mastermind’ behind NEET paper leak

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Rakesh Ranjan, aka Rocky, believed to be the mastermind behind the NEET exam paper leak. Sources revealed on Thursday afternoon that Ranjan, who hails from Nalanda, has been placed in the agency’s custody for ten days. The CBI conducted searches at three locations in Patna and nearby areas and one in Kolkata after his arrest.

This arrest is part of a broader investigation into a nationwide racket involving the leak of question papers for competitive exams like the NEET. To date, over a dozen individuals, including the principal and vice principal of a school in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, have been apprehended. The CBI, working alongside various state police forces, has arrested eight individuals in connection with this case, excluding Rocky.

The CBI, tasked with unravelling this extensive exam paper racket, has registered six First Information Reports (FIRs), including five related to three separate cases in Bihar. Sources indicate that the origins of the NEET paper leak may be traced back to a school in Hazaribagh. According to a CBI official, nine sets of exam papers, scheduled for the May 5 test, were delivered to a State Bank of India branch for safekeeping two days prior.

Two sets of these papers were then transported to Oasis School in Hazaribagh, a designated exam centre, with broken seals upon arrival at the school.

While the exact point of the leak remains uncertain, evidence suggests it could have occurred at the bank, during transit, or at the school. This breach has sparked significant controversy, particularly as nearly 2.4 million students took the May 5 NEET exam.

The controversy heightened after an unprecedented number of perfect scores were reported, with 67 students achieving the maximum score of 720, including six from a single coaching centre. Additionally, the award of ‘grace marks’ to 1,563 students, a practice not typically part of the exam protocol, raised further questions.

Following these irregularities, a retest was held last week for the affected students, but many did not attend.

The issue escalated to the Supreme Court, which issued a notice to the National Testing Agency (NTA), responsible for conducting the NEET exam. The NTA has denied allegations of the paper being leaked on Telegram, labelling the shared images as “fake.” In an affidavit, the NTA asserted that no NEET-UG question papers were missing and no box locks were broken in Bihar.

The NTA also addressed the unusually high number of top scores, attributing it to discrepancies between new and old editions of a textbook, which provided two correct answers to one question. Excluding this anomaly, the actual number of toppers was 17, a figure not significantly higher than in previous years.