NEET-UG Paper Leak Case: CBI Arrests Principal, Vice Principal Of School In Jharkhand's Hazaribagh

In connection with the NEET-UG paper leak case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested the vice principal and principal of a school in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh. The National Testing Agency (NTA) named Ehsanul Haque, the principal of Oasis School, the city coordinator for Hazaribagh for the medical entrance exam on May 5. Officials said that Vice Principal Imtiaz Alam was designated as the NTA's observer and the centre coordinator at the Oasis School. They also mentioned that five additional district residents are being questioned by the CBI regarding the paper leak case.

Following extensive questioning, the federal probe agency reportedly took Haque and Alam into custody. Both accused were under investigation by the Bihar Police's Economic Offences Unit (EOU), which had previously investigated the case. During a raid on the solver gang's hideout, the team discovered burnt NEET-UG question papers, officials said.

The EOU claimed in a statement that the notorious Sanjeev Kumar alias Lutan Mukhiya gang obtained the "leaked" NEET-UG question paper from the Oasis School in Hazaribagh. It  asserted that the investigators had matched a partially burned question paper discovered in the Patna safe house with the NTA's reference question paper, confirming the leak's origin. However, officials said they were unable to determine who was behind the alleged paper leak.

The investigation also revealed that the authorities in Hazaribagh did not properly follow the established guidelines for opening the question paper boxes. In media interviews, Haque claimed that the box containing the question papers could not be opened because the digital lock, which was supposed to unlock automatically, malfunctioned.

According to Haque, he then contacted the NTA, who instructed him to open the box with a cutter. The boxes containing question papers have two locks: a manual one that must be opened with a key and cutter, and a digital lock that opens with a beep 45 minutes before the exam.

The CBI filed six FIRs in the NEET-UG paper leak case, including its own FIR based on a reference from the Union Education Ministry and five from the states where it took over the investigation. The investigation agency has taken over one case in each of Bihar and Gujarat, as well as three in Rajasthan.

On Thursday, the CBI made its first arrests in the NEET-UG paper leak case, detaining two people in Patna and recording statements from three candidates in Gujarat who allegedly asked for help to pass the exam.

NTA conducts NEET-UG for admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses at government and private institutions across the country. This year's exam took place on May 5 at 4,750 locations in 571 cities, including 14 abroad. Over 23 lakh candidates took the test.

The first CBI FIR was filed on Sunday, a day after the ministry announced that it would hand over the investigation into alleged irregularities in exam administration to the central agency. A group of protesting students demanded an investigation by the CBI.