NEW DELHI: The issue of the question paper leak in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance-Undergraduate Test (NEET-UG) 2024, one of the country's most prestigious exams conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 5, has escalated into a nationwide investigation as revealed by the Bihar Police. This matter, which has been simmering since the results were declared on the same day as the Lok Sabha election results, has now drawn widespread attention.

Amid ongoing nationwide protests and government efforts to address concerns about the leak, the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police revealed that an examination mafia has confessed to their involvement. Consequently, the EOU has arrested 13 individuals, including four students, and issued notices to nine more candidates suspected of being involved in the scam and receiving the leaked questions and answers before the May 5 exam.

EOU officials claim to have strong evidence of the leak and have sent notices to students in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Bihar, urging them to join the investigation. EOU DIG Manavjit Singh Dhillon disclosed that a list of 13 people was found at a "safe house" in Ram Krishna Nagar, Patna, where around 30 medical aspirants had been summoned by the "exam mafia" to receive the leaked questions and answers in exchange for large sums of money. The aspirants revealed that their parents paid between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 50 lakh each for the papers.

Four of the arrested candidates reportedly confessed that the exam questions were identical to those provided at the safe house on May 4. Dhillon mentioned that these four were arrested on May 5 from different exam centers in Patna after taking the NEET exam. Notices have been sent to the remaining nine candidates, identified by their roll codes provided by the NTA, to join the investigation. Among these nine, one is from UP, one from Maharashtra, and seven from various districts in Bihar.

According to the EOU the arrested persons have been identified as Baldev Kumar, Mukesh Kumar, Panku Kumar, Rajeev Kumar and Paramjeet Singh, all from Nalanda and some of them have links with the notorious Sanjeev Kumar alias Lutan Mukhiya gang. They are alleged to have received the solved answer sheet of the NEET-UG exam in PDF format on their cell phone a day before the exam.

The investigation also uncovered that after the results were announced, all four arrested candidates had passed the exam. When the 13 candidates entered the rented flat, their phones were confiscated to prevent them from contacting anyone or sharing the questions. The mafia later transported the students to their exam centers. 

INationwide protests against the NEET exams began after the results were declared on June 4, earlier than the expected date of June 14. Notably, for the first time, 67 students achieved a perfect score of 720 out of 720. As a result, the cutoff for the NEET exam increased from 137 to 164, making it the highest cutoff in NEET history. Over 24 lakh students registered for the NEET exam this year, with 13 lakh 16 thousand passing, compared to 11 lakh 45 thousand last year.