The controversy surrounding the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) has intensified as four individuals confessed to leaking the question paper for the medical entrance exam the night before the test. The arrests have added fuel to the fire of ongoing student protests, which erupted over allegations of the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak and the awarding of grace marks to over 1,500 candidates.
Though the grace marks were later retracted and a re-test was offered, the Education Minister had initially denied any paper leak.
The four men arrested in Bihar include NEET aspirant Anurag Yadav, Sikandar Yadavendu, a junior engineer at Danapur Municipal Council, along with Nitish Kumar and Amit Anand. They admitted to having received the question paper a day prior to the exam and memorizing it. They confirmed that the same questions appeared on the exam the next day.
“I was made to read and memorize it at night. When I went for the exam, I found the same questions which I had memorized correctly. After the exam, the police came and caught me, and I confessed my crime,” said Anurag Yadav.
Sikandar Yadavendu added that Nitish Kumar and Amit Anand had assured him they could leak question papers for any competitive exam at a cost of Rs 30-32 lakh per aspirant.
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“I agreed and told them I have four boys (who need help in passing the exam). On June 4 night, I took them with me and Nitish Kumar and Amit Anand gave them the question paper. Out of greed, I had also asked them for Rs 40 lakh each instead of Rs 30 lakh,” Yadavendu revealed to the police. He was later caught with the students’ admit cards during a vehicle check and confessed.
Nearly 24 lakh students took the NEET-UG 2024 on May 5, but the results, announced at least 10 days ahead of schedule, were clouded by the paper leak allegations and the issue of grace marks.
The scandal has also taken a political turn, with opposition parties accusing the government of rigging, corruption, and mismanagement. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that BJP-ruled states were the “epicentre of paper leak.”
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan rejected these allegations last week, insisting there was no evidence of rigging and accusing the opposition of spreading misinformation.
The Supreme Court, addressing a series of petitions regarding the alleged exam irregularities, criticized the National Testing Agency and emphasized the need for fair treatment of all candidates.
