Burnt question papers, post-dated cheques: Bihar probes NEET ‘paper leak’, NTA denies

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Bihar EOU, which is investigating the case in the state, has also said the evidence collected was not enough to confirm a paper leak. Officers said they were “investigating the matter thoroughly”.

“The investigation shall now be conducted by the newly constituted SIT of the agency,” N H Khan, Additional Director General of Police, EOU, told The Indian Express.

An EOU source said, “The SIT has seized post-dated cheques that suggest that money was being paid by candidates to an organised gang. Though we had evidence of burnt question papers at an exam centre, it is not good enough proof to suggest there was a paper leak.”

A total of 13 people have been arrested in the case so far. “Of these, some are candidates and their parents, and others are members of an organised gang,” an EOU officer said.

The gang allegedly gathered a total of 35 candidates before the exam at Learn Boys Hostel and Learn Play School at Patna’s Khemnichak area, the officer said. “Some remains of burnt question papers have been seized from the school concerned, and this will be investigated,” the source said, adding that one of those arrested, one Nitish Kumar of Gaya, has previously been arrested in connection with a Bihar PSC TRE-3 paper leak case from Hazaribagh.

Maintaining that there was no paper leak, a senior NTA official told The Indian Express, “In an isolated incident at Girls Higher Secondary Adarsh Vidya Mandir, Mantown, Sawai Madhopur (Rajasthan), Hindi-medium students were given English medium question paper by mistake and by the time the invigilator was correcting the mistake, students forcefully walked out of the exam hall with the question paper… Due to this, the question paper was circulated on the internet around 4 pm, but by that time the exam had already started at all other centres across the country. So, there has not been any ‘leak’ of the NEET UG question paper.”

The NTA had also issued a press release on May 6, denying any paper leak.