A member of the “solver gang” was detained by the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the Bihar police on Sunday. The member had obtained a solved question paper the day before the June 5 exam was scheduled. The EOU was investigating the paper leak case in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET)-UG before turning it over to the CBI.
Baldev Kumar was one of the five individuals detained by the Bihar police on Sunday from the Deoghar district of Jharkhand. Kumar was allegedly an ally of Sanjeev Kumar, the gang’s leader, according to the EOU.
An alleged network headed by Ravi Atri is called “Solver Gang.” The gang specialises in getting and distributing solution question papers to students who are ready to pay the appropriate money through a variety of channels, including social media.
“Based on the available evidence, the solved question papers of NEET UG-2024 examination held on 05.05.2024 were received on mobile by this gang,” news agency quoted the EOU.
“Baldev Kumar had received the PDF file of the solved question paper on his mobile in the morning of May 5. Its copies were taken out from the Wi-Fi printer kept in the school. Groups of candidates were formed and they were made to memorise them,” EOU told the news agency.
The matter will be moved to the CBI, according to an announcement made by the EOU, which assumed control of the probe from Patna Police on May 17. 13 persons were detained by Patna Police on May 5th in connection with the purported paper leak.
Baldev Kumar was renting a home in Patna. He is originally from Bihar Sharif, which is in the Nalanda district. According to Indian Express, the other detained “solver gang members” are Paramjit Singh alias Bittu from Chhabilapur in Nalanda, Rajeev Kumar alias Karu from Ekangarsarai in Nalanda, Panku Kumar from Chhabilapur in Nalanda, and Mukesh Kumar from Agamkuan in Patna.
The primary suspected centre is Oasis School in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand; additional schools under investigation include St. Xavier’s School, DAV Public School, Holy Cross School, and Vivekananda Central School.
A police officer in Hazaribagh told news agency, “The EOU team suspects that the paper leaked from one of the five schools where NEET-UG was held and is probing in that direction. The schools are Oasis school, St Xavier’s School, DAV Public School, Holy Cross School and Vivekananda Central School in Hazaribagh. Oasis is on top of the suspicion list but nothing concrete has been found so far. The principal of Oasis School in Hazaribag told the probing team that the digital locks (of lockers where question papers were kept) were opened after getting the consent of senior officials authorised by the National Testing Agency (which conducts the exam).”
In connection with the investigation involving claims of misconduct, paper leaks, exam centre manipulation, and anomalies in the results of this year’s medical entrance exam, the EOU has detained eighteen persons. One arrested individual reportedly acknowledged getting a leaked question paper, according to the police.
News agency reports that the EOU discovered 68 questions—roughly 200 total—from the charred remnants of purportedly authentic question paper copies.
EOU said in a statement, “A copy of the reference question paper related to the semi-burnt question paper seized in Learn Boys Hostel and Play School has been made available by NTA. After receiving the desired report related to the Serial Code of the half-burned question paper seized from NTA in the evening of 20 June, 2024, it became clear that the half-burned question paper recovered from Learn Boys Hostel and Play School, Ramakrishna Nagar for the NEET UG-2024 examination. The serial code is of the examination centre of Oasis School Kallu Chowk, Mandai Road of District Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. This has been verified. In the course of verification, prima facie, the polybag suspected of packing the question paper from the concerned examination centre of Hazaribagh, the packing of the original question paper recovered from the concerned candidate and the preliminary investigation in the related packing trunk, all these have been found to be tampered with and all these Suspicious exhibits have been duly confiscated.”
