The CBI said 14 people have so far been arrested in connection with the NEET-UG case. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on July 16 arrested two more accused, Pankaj Kumar and Raju Singh, from Patna and Hazaribagh respectively in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) – NEET-UG 2024 paper leak case.
CBI sources said that key accused Pankaj Kumar is a resident of Jharkhandโs Bokaro and he has been arrested in Patna on the charge of stealing the NEET (UG) paper from the National Testing Agencyโs (NTA) trunk in Hazaribagh. The second accused Raju Singh has been arrested from Hazaribagh for helping Pankaj Kumar.
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Sources said that Singh was arrested from a guesthouse in Hazaribag located in Ramnagar locality under Katkamdag police station.
Singh was the fourth person arrested from Hazaribagh in the paper leak case. Earlier, the federal agency has arrested Hazaribaghโs Oasis School principal Ahsanul Haque, vice-principal Imtiaz Alam and a local Hindi newspaper journalist Jamaludin.
Hazaribagh has become one of the suspected places where CBI spent several days before it arrested the three accused in the case. The central agency is investigating the link of the question paper leak and has collected important evidence from the school premises.
Later, two teachers of the school were also summoned to Patna, however they were later released after interrogation. During the investigation, the employees of Blue Dart Courier were also questioned apart from an e-rickshaw driver who had delivered the question paper from the courier office to SBI branch in Hazaribagh. The CBI team had also questioned the office bearers of the SBI bank as the question papers were kept over there.
Since May 5, 2024 CBI is investigating the case after the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) has handed over the case in which the total number of people arrested is 14. Pankaj Kumar is a civil engineer who allegedly stole the NEET paper.
Last Thursday, CBI made a major breakthrough in the case by arresting one of the key accused in the case, Rakesh Rajan alias Rocky, a resident of Nalanda district in Bihar. Rocky was produced before the Special CBI court after which the Court had granted 10 days remand to CBI for questioning.
Rocky has arranged the solvers to solve the NEET paper after the leak and he is also one of the trusted gang members of Sanjeev Mukhiya, who is believed to be the king-pin in the case. Rocky is also a relative of Mr. Mukhiya. Rocky has arranged MBBS students from Patna and Ranchi to solve the NEET question paper. Before arresting Rocky, a CBI team had raided his house in Gajendra Bigha village in Nalanda on June 30, 2024.
Last Friday, the Patna High Court also granted custody of 13 persons, who were previously arrested by Patna Police to the CBI.
