NEET UG Row: In Jharkhand, e-rickshaw ferried papers, chain of custody under scanner

Based on its investigation, the EOU eventually arrested six men from Jharkhand’s Deoghar who, sources said, are from Bihar and were living there disguised as labourers.

Accused in the NEET-UG case in Patna on Sunday

Students arrive at a school in Haryana’s Jhajjar for the NEET-UG retest. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)

As part of their probe into the alleged NEET-UG paper leak, investigators in Bihar and Jharkhand looked at courier and transport companies tasked with ferrying the question papers, and found laxity on the part of at least one company that used an e-rickshaw to get the job done, The Indian Express has learnt.

After probe officers in Bihar found that the serial code found on the burnt remains of a leaked question papers was of an examination center in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh, they set off to find what could have compromised the “chain of custody”, sources said.

According to sources in the Jharkhand police, Bihar’s Economic Offences Unit (EOU) found the conduct of a courier company, operating between Ranchi and Hazaribagh, particularly “lackadaisical”. A source said that the courier company handed nine packets containing question papers to a transport company, which was tasked with delivering them to strongrooms, which in this case were two public sector banks.

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Sources said that on May 3, two days before the examination, the transport company’s vehicle dropped the nine packets at a sub-centre of the courier company in Hazaribagh’s Oreya area instead of at the banks.

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One of the accused in the NEET-UG case in Patna on Sunday. (PTI)

“The packets were dropped at the sub-centre and then sent to one of the bank’s branches via an e-rickshaw, which suggests that the company was taking the exam very lightly. CCTV footage showed the packets being dropped at 1.30 pm May 3,” said a source.

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Sources said EOU investigators questioned the courier company about this and the company claimed it had “no control over the driver (who would deliver the papers)”.

A top officer in Bihar’s EOU told The Indian Express: “Since students received the paper before the examination, it shows there was leakage in the chain of custody, which is sacrosanct. The courier and transportation companies as well as the strongrooms are all part of this chain of custody. The probe is now with the CBI, but we were close to zeroing in on the leak.”

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Accused in the NEET-UG case in Patna on Sunday. (PTI)

Based on its investigation, the EOU eventually arrested six men from Jharkhand’s Deoghar who, sources said, are from Bihar and were living there disguised as labourers.

Asked if inputs were given by the Jharkhand Police to the EOU, Hazaribagh Superintendent of Police Arvind Kumar Singh said, “We provided them no inputs. They came for investigation, questioned a few people and left.”

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A top police officer told The Indian Express, “If we find any inputs which require investigation, we will definitely share them with the CBI.”