Patna: A special team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrived in Patna on Monday to take over the case pertaining to the alleged question paper leak of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test- Under Graduate (NEET-UG) from the Economic Offences Unit (EOU), an investigating wing of the Bihar Police.
The team comprising two additional superintendent of police (ASP)-rank officers of the CBI had detailed discussion with senior officers of the EOU in Patna. The EOU, which had arrested as many as 18 persons, including some key conspirators in the case, has handed over all documents and evidences it had found and collected during the raids at various locations in Bihar and Jharkhand.
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Although the Union education ministry apparently refused to acknowledge that the question paper of NEET-UG was leaked, it asked the CBI to take up the case for further investigation, The CBI formally lodged an FIR on Sunday on the basis of report it received from the education ministry. It set up two investigation team. While one team of the CBI arrived in Patna, another went to Godhra, where the police had reportedly confiscated more than ₹2 crore cash from the teachers, who were key resource to manage the NEET-UG exam centre.
A senior officer of the EOU said that they had handed over all evidence relating to question paper leak in the NEET-UG exam, including partially burnt question paper, cheques purportedly issued to the gang members involve in leaking the paper, sim cards, mobiles, laptops and other vital documents, carrying details of the persons involved in the case. The CBI officers also questioned one of the candidates Sonu Kumar, a native of Saharsa district, who was also a petitioner in the case.
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The EOU officer also informed the CBI that it had gathered many vital details about modus operandi of the gang members involved in leaking the question paper and arranging guaranteed success for the students, who paid them in the range of ₹30 to ₹40 lakh. “One of the prime accused in the case Baldeo alias Chintu Kumar and his four associates arrested from Jharkhand’s Deoghar district have made several important revelations during interrogation. A diary has been found during the search of Jhunnu Singh’s house in Devipur police station area of Deoghar,” said the EOU officer.
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Meanwhile, opposition parties, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), released a bunch of photographs of the key conspirators in the question paper leak case with senior leaders of the Janata Dal (United), including Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and deputy chief minister Samrat Chaudhary, and wondered why the main accused are still not caught. RJD national spokesman Manoj Kumar Jha demanded immediate cancellation of the NEET-UG and resignation of Central education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
