No NTA official involved in NEET-UG question paper leak: Investigators | Latest News India

According to officials aware of the developments, an organized syndicate accessed the paper before the exam from the Hazaribagh-situated Oasis School in connivance with the institute’s staff. The gang, also consisting of “solvers,” took lakhs of rupees to help some of the aspirants clear the exam for admissions to MBBS, BDS and other related undergraduate medical courses across India. Agency officials estimated that around 150 candidates “benefited” from the leaked paper.

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“As far as NTA is concerned, our probe has not revealed any anomaly on part of any official or any problems in the distribution of question papers to various states and cities. The paper was stolen locally, in Hazaribagh, by an organized syndicate that had taken hefty amounts from the candidates or their parents,” said a senior CBI official, requesting anonymity.

The NTA-conducted examination was mired in controversy, with allegations of question paper leaks and inflated marking. In June, the Center handed over the case to the central probe agency and also shunted the then NTA chief, Subodh Kumar Singh. Amid widespread outrage and jostling, education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the top leadership of NTA was under the scanner. The government also formed a seven-member committee to review the structure, processes, and workings of the NTA.

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The CBI has arrested 48 people in connection with the case, including Ehsanul Haque and Imtiaz Alam, the principal and vice principal of the Oasis School. In its second charge sheet filed on Friday—the first charge sheet was submitted on August 1—the federal agency named Haque and Alam as accused for allegedly conspiring with the syndicate and letting them access the room where the trunks carrying the question papers were kept. Haque was designated as the city coordinator and Alam as the city superintendent for the exam by the NTA.

“Haque and Alam took part in the conspiracy and allowed stealing of paper. The paper was solved at Hazaribagh on the morning of May 5 by a set of solvers studying MBBS courses at AIIMS Patna, RIMS Ranchi, and a medical college in Bharatpur,” a second CBI officer said on condition of anonymity.

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The case was busted by the Bihar police’s Economic Offenses Unit (EOU) after a half-burnt question paper was recovered from a private school’s hostel on the outskirts of Patna on May 5, hours after the commencement of the exam. The question paper bore the serial code of Oasis School. The head of the paper leak gang, Sanjeev Kumar alias Mukhia, remains at large.

This year’s examination was conducted at 4,750 centers in 571 cities, including 14 abroad. The results, declared on June 4, sparked controversy when 67 candidates achieved perfect scores of 720, with some of them belonging to the same examination center. The case also reached the Supreme Court, which pulled up NTA last month, noting that exam papers were leaked in Patna and Hazaribagh and that “unauthorized persons were permitted to access the question papers” — a clear indication of the NTA’s failure to implement stringent security measures. The court, however, did not order a retest.