NEET UG row: 6 from Nalanda including a wanted detained in Jharkhand, EoU submits report on paper leak to Ministry
As per an EoU official, all the detained persons belong to the Nalanda district and were staying in a rented house of one Jhunu Singh near AIIMS, Deoghar.
In another breakthrough, Bihar Police’s Economic Offences Unit (EOU), which is probing the NEET-UG paper leak case, detained six persons including a prime suspect Chintu from Deoghar, and brought them to Patna for thorough interrogation on Saturday. The EOU operation was done with the assistance of Jharkhand police, police sources said.
Also read: Bihar Police obtain NEET exam papers to tally with seized documents; may do narco testing of accused
So far, 13 persons have been arrested in the paper leak case from Bihar. Police sources said the detention of six more persons today is set to reveal more details about how the paper leak was executed by those arrested earlier. " We are questioning the six more persons picked up from Deoghar. Once we get more evidence, there will be more arrests," said an officer in the EOU, wishing anonymity.
An EoU official, familiar with the matter told Hindustan Times that all the detained persons belong to the Nalanda district and were staying in a rented house of one Jhunu Singh near AIIMS, Deoghar under the jurisdiction of the Devipur police station area. They were identified as Chintu alias Baldeo Kumar, Paramjit Singh alias Bittu, Panku Kumar, Kaju alias Prashant Kumar, Ajit Kumar, and Rajiv Kumar alias Karu.
Police said that Chintu, a resident of Karai-Parsurai, is one of the prime suspects, who is very close to absconding Sanjiv Singh alias Lutan Mukhia, who is absconding.
More importantly, EOU investigations have revealed that the NEET question paper leak took place from a center in Hajaribagh (Jharkhand) and the question paper was sent by one of the culprits to Chintu through cell phone on May 4- a day before the NEET examination, sources said.
It may mentioned here that during a raid at Khemnichak on May 5, Patna police found a burnt question paper and recovered booklet number 636488 from there.
According to Patna police sources, the booklet belonged to an exam center in Hazaribagh. Police have based their findings to trace the source of the question paper leak to Hazaribagh and other places in Jharkhand based on this evidence, sources said, On Saturday, a team of EoU visited Hazaribagh to record the statements of employees and staff.
Police said some of those arrested including main suspect Nitish Kumar have confessed that Chintu was present at a play school in Khemichak in Patna district on the night of May 4.
Police said that the arrested person Nitish Kumar, in his statement, revealed that when he along with Amit Anand, Roshan, and Ashutosh reached Khemnichak-based Learn and Play School premises, Chintu alias Baldeo was already present on the premises.
Also read: NEET-UG, UGC-NET row: Here's all you need to know about NTA and its role
"Following Chintu’s request, Pintu took a printout of the question paper and at 9 AM on May 4, solved its answer with the help of MBBS students and distributed it among 25-30 candidates who were staying at remote Khemnichak to memorize the same. Police are looking for Chintu's associate Pintu who is still at large," said an investigator.
EoU has evidence that Chintu also worked for Ravi Atri's gang. Ravi Atri was arrested by police in the UP constable recruitment exam question paper leak case in February. EoU will seek narco analysis and brain mapping tests on Amit Anand, Nitish Kumar, and Chintu Kumar to bring more truths about the paper leak scam.
EOU submits a report of the probe on the Paper leak to Ministry of Education (MOE)
The EOU, probing the NEET-UG paper leak case, submitted its detailed investigation and status report to the MoE on Saturday, as per sources in the investigating agency.
Sources said the probe report submitted to MOE carries details about various aspects of the probe done into the paper leak case in Bihar and adjoining states till June 21 and has also names of those arrested so far and the gangs involved in the leak case.
"We only submit our investigation report in 5-6 pages. Our reports are based on investigation, seizure, statements of arrested persons," said an official familiar with the matter, adding that no personal opinion was given in the report.
Sources said the report also has details on the entire episode how it happened and who all were instrumental in the case. One EOU officer said the investigating agency was working on various new angles to unravel how the racket operated and various intermediaries involved in the paper leak case. " The EOU and police are also trying to find out the link through which the NEET paper solver gang got the question papers," said another officer.
Besides, sources said the EoU is also likely to serve notice against Pritam Kumar, the private secretary of RJD leader Tejaswi Prasad for his alleged connection with junior engineer Sikander Prasad Yadvendu, one of those arrested after the May 5 Neet examination from Patna. Several admit cards and checks were recovered from Yadvendu, who was working with Danapur Nagar Parishad before he was suspended recently. Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha has alleged that Yadvendu is a relative of Pritam, private secretary of RJD leader Tejashwi.
Sources in the Enforcement Directorate, the agency might investigate the money laundering aspect of the alleged irregularities in the NEET case by the arrested or absconding accused. The agency is expected to identify proceeds of crime and initiate proceedings to attach properties belonging to the accused or suspects.
In another development, the Ministry of Education (MoE) today said it has constituted a high-level committee of experts to make recommendations on reform in the mechanism of the examination process, improvement in data security protocols, and functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA). The 7-member committee, led by ISRO Former Chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan, will submit its report to the ministry in the next two months.
