NEET paper row: Nearly 24 lakh students had appeared for the NEET-UG 2024 on May 5. (File)
The burning issue of irregularities in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) has taken a new turn with four arrested men confessing that question paper for the medical entrance exam was leaked the previous night.
Student protests rocked the country last week over allegations of NEET-UG 2024 paper leak and grace marks awarded to over 1,500 aspirants. While the grace marks were later scrapped and the students were offered a re-test, paper leak was denied by the education minister.
The four men arrested from Bihar include aspirant Anurag Yadav, his uncle Sikandar P Yadavendu - a junior engineer at Danapur municipal council - and two others - Nitish Kumar and Amit Anand.
They admitted that they received the question paper the day prior to the exam and were made to memorize it. In a statement to the Bihar cops, they said the exact questions were asked in the exam the next day.
Anurag Yadav, who was preparing for the exam in the coaching hub of Kota, said his uncle asked him to return since he had planned to leak the paper. "I was made to read and memorize it at night. When I went for the exam, I found the same questions which I had memorized correctly. After the exam, the police came and caught me, and I confessed my crime," he said.
Sikandar claimed that the other two accused, Nitish Kumar and Amit Anand, told him they could leak the question paper of any competitive exam and it would cost Rs 30-32 lakh for each aspirant to clear NEET.
"I agreed and told them I have four boys (who need help in passing the exam). On June 4 night, I took them with me and Nitish Kumar and Amit Anand gave them the question paper. Out of greed, I had also asked them for Rs 40 lakh each instead of Rs 30 lakh," he told the cops.
He said he was caught with the admit cards of the students during a vehicle check the next day and confessed his crime.
Nearly 24 lakh students appeared for the NEET-UG 2024 for undergraduate medical courses on May 5. But the results, which was declared at least 10 days before schedule, were marred with allegations of a question paper leak and grace marks being awarded to over 1,500 students.
The issue also took a political turn with Opposition parties targeting the government over alleged rigging, paper leaks, and corruption. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had contended that BJP-ruled states were the "epicentre of paper leak".
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan last week rejected the allegations. Stating there was no evidence of any rigging, he accused the Opposition of spreading lies.
The Supreme Court, while hearing a batch of petitions over the alleged irregularities in the exam, on Tuesday came down heavily on the National Testing Agency and said it must ensure that all candidates are treated fairly.