CBI takes up 5 cases of alleged irregularities in NEET-UG from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Bihar

Lina Portman2 weeks ago

0 4 minutes read

The CBI on Monday took charge of five fresh cases of alleged malpractices in the NEET-UG medical entrance exam which were being investigated by police in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Bihar, as the Political storm was intensifying as the opposition prepared to confront the government in Parliament over the issue of paper leaks.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested a headmaster of Zilla Parishad school from Latur and arrested a teacher after it emerged that at least four people allegedly ran racket to help NEET students willing to pay l money to pass the exam.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider abolishing NEET, the national-level medical entrance exam introduced in 2013, and return to the system of states conducting review following controversy over leaked documents.

Several Opposition MPs said on the first day of the 18th Lok Sabha that the government will have to answer this issue in Parliament as it is causing hardship to thousands of students.

As Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan took oath in Lok Sabha, opposition members shouted “NEET, NEET”.

Amid protests and litigation, the Center on Saturday removed National Testing Agency (NTA) Director General Subodh Singh and handed over the probe into irregularities in NEET-UG to the CBI, which is now investigating a total of six cases in this area.

Pradeep Singh Kharola took charge of the NTA on Monday and held meetings with officials of the regulatory body.

The seven-member committee set up by the education ministry and headed by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan to review the functioning of the NTA and recommend exam reforms met on Monday evening.

“The panel met today and was briefed on the current processes and functioning of the agency. The panel also reviewed the statistics provided by the NTA on the multiple exams it conducts and the number of candidates presenting in every exam,” a source said.

Dharmendra Pradhan had asserted that this was the first in a series of measures aimed at improving the efficiency of the examination process, stopping all possible malpractices, strengthening data security protocols and revising and reform the NTA.

The Center on Monday also made public the rules of the recently notified Anti-Paper Leakage Act, mandating the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) to prepare, among others, norms, standards and guidelines for computer-based tests.

The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Rules, 2024, contain provisions regarding “engagement of services of other government agencies by the public examination authority”, “preparation of norms, standards and guidelines guidelines” and “reporting incidents of unfair means or violations” among others.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials said the agency has re-registered one case each from Gujarat and Bihar and three cases from Rajasthan as its own FIR. It is also likely that it will take up another case of Latur from Maharashtra.

Except for the Bihar case, the other four appear to be isolated incidents of impersonation and cheating by local officials, invigilators and candidates, the officials said.

The CBI has already registered its own FIR in connection with the case, following a request from the Union education ministry to conduct a thorough investigation, they said.

After taking up these new cases, the CBI is now investigating six cases of alleged irregularities in NEET-UG.

The Economic Offenses Unit of the Bihar Police arrested five more people on Sunday, taking the total number of arrests to 18.

In Maharashtra, police said they arrested Jalil Khan Umar Khan Pathan, headmaster of a Cilla Parishad school, on Sunday evening and detained another teacher, Sanjay Jadhav, for questioning on Monday. According to police, the two teachers also run a private coaching center.

The Center has been criticized for alleged irregularities in NEET-UG and UGC-NET.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has called for strong action against those involved in the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG exam.

“I strongly urge you to consider and take immediate steps to restore the old system of conducting this examination by state governments and abolish the NEET examination.

“This will help restore normalcy and confidence of aspiring students in the system,” she said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Anil Desai said resolving the NEET-UG conflict requires more than arresting a few individuals and asserted the involvement of a larger network in the matter.

“The entire reputation has been tarnished because of NEET. Merely arresting one or two policemen will not solve the problem. There is a huge racket at work,” the South Central Mumbai MP alleged.

Days after Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha claimed that an arrested prime suspect was linked to officials associated with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, RJD MP Manoj Jha claimed that t there was a closeness between the people named for the paper leaks and the leaders of the JD(U) and the BJP.

While the question paper for the medical entrance exam was allegedly leaked, according to an investigation by the Bihar Police, UGC-NET was canceled a day after its conduct following reports that the integrity of the exam had been compromised. Both cases are currently being investigated by the CBI.

Two other exams – NEET-PG and CSIR-UGC NET – were canceled by the government amid this row.

Meanwhile, the Congress-affiliated National Students' Union of India (NSUI) staged a protest at Jantar Mantar.

Before their planned march to Parliament, police barricaded the area and more than two dozen students, including some NSUI members, were arrested.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)