SC hearing on NEET-UG 2024: CBI confirms paper leak originated in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh where leaked paper was also solved

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has officially acknowledged a paper leak in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduate courses (NEET-UG) during a Supreme Court hearing on Tuesday, marking the first time the agency has made such a claim since it began its investigation into the matter in June.

During the proceedings, the CBI revealed that the leak occurred at Oasis School in Hazaribagh on May 5, coinciding with the day of the examination. The agency also confirmed that the leaked paper was solved at the same institution.

Oasis School’s principal, Ehsanul Haque, and center superintendent, Imtiyaz Alam, are currently in CBI custody related to the leak, both maintaining their innocence.

In court, the CBI presented evidence suggesting that Haque and Alam accepted payments in exchange for facilitating the leak. The agency reported recovering post-dated cheques linked to these transactions and noted that the payments were not made in a single batch.

Elaborating on the alleged scheme, the CBI described how one of the suspected masterminds reportedly entered the school’s strongroom on the exam morning, armed with a toolkit to access the examination papers. The individual, identified as Pankaj Kumar, allegedly photographed the question paper and transmitted it to a group of medical students, referred to as the "Solver Gang," who had been taken for this specific task.

The CBI provided CCTV footage to support its claims, showcasing Kumar accessing the strongroom shortly after his arrival on campus. According to CBI officials, the front door of the strongroom was locked, with the key held by the centre superintendent.

However, they alleged that the inside bolt of a rear door had been intentionally left unlocked as a part of the conspiracy, allowing Kumar to enter undetected. His movements were documented, with authorities stating that he entered the strongroom at 8:02 am and exited at 9:23 am.

Following the leak, Kumar allegedly disseminated the photographs to other accomplices, leading to a printout being generated for the hired medical students to solve. The CBI noted that the resolved question paper was subsequently scanned and sent to multiple locations in Hazaribagh as well as two additional sites in Patna.

When Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud inquired about the distribution of the leaked paper to other centres, the CBI responded that their investigation had identified only four locations in Bihar and Patna where the scanned versions of the solved paper were transmitted.