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CBI arrests Rakesh Ranjan, alias Rocky, believed to be the mastermind behind the NEET paper leak scandal, as raids and investigations intensify.
Key Points
- CBI arrests Rakesh Ranjan, alias Rocky, alleged mastermind of the NEET paper leak.
- Rocky’s arrest follows CBI raids in Bihar and West Bengal.
- Over a dozen arrests made, including school officials in Jharkhand.
- Investigation reveals leaked papers likely originated from a Hazaribagh school.
- Supreme Court scrutinizes NEET leak, with potential cancellation of NEET-UG 2024 under review.
- NTA denies widespread leak, attributing high scores to textbook discrepancies.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Rakesh Ranjan, alias Rocky, believed to be the kingpin in the NEET paper leak case, sources revealed Thursday afternoon. Rocky has been remanded to the agency’s custody for 10 days, coinciding with ongoing CBI raids at four locations—two near Patna, Bihar, and two near Kolkata, West Bengal.
This arrest marks a significant development in a national racket involving the leaking of question papers for competitive exams like NEET. Over a dozen individuals, including the principal and vice-principal of a school in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh, have been apprehended by various state police forces and the CBI. Excluding Rocky, the CBI has arrested eight people connected to this case.
Tasked with investigating this nationwide exam paper racket, the CBI has filed six FIRs so far, five of which pertain to three separate cases in Bihar. On Wednesday, CBI sources informed NDTV that the NEET paper leak might have originated at the Hazaribagh school, with leaked papers subsequently reaching Bihar.
According to a CBI official, nine sets of exam papers, scheduled for the May 5 exam, were delivered to a State Bank of India branch two days prior for safekeeping. Two sets were then transported to the Oasis School in Hazaribagh, where they were unsealed before reaching the school. Rocky was allegedly present during the unsealing, taking photos of the questions and distributing them to ‘solver gangs’, an organized racket providing answers to leaked papers. These answers were sold to exam candidates for exorbitant prices. Rocky is also linked to Sanjeev Mukhiya, another key figure in the scam, who has been involved in similar activities for two decades and is currently on the run.
The arrest of Rocky could unravel further details in the NEET case, which is under judicial scrutiny to determine the extent of the paper leak. While both the government and testing agencies maintain that the leak is localized and limited to a few students, the investigation continues to uncover new leads.
CBI sources remain uncertain about the precise point of leakage, suggesting it could have occurred at the bank branch, during transit to the school, or at the school itself.
The NEET-UG exam, a gateway for undergraduate medical courses, faced controversy after nearly 24 lakh students took the exam on May 5. Suspicion arose when an unusually high number of perfect scores were reported, including a record 67 students scoring the maximum 720, with six from a single coaching center. Additionally, the award of ‘grace marks’ to 1,563 students raised further questions. Although a retest was conducted last week for these students, many did not attend.
The controversy has reached the Supreme Court, which has issued a notice to the National Testing Agency (NTA), the central body responsible for conducting NEET. The NTA defended itself against allegations of a leak on Telegram, claiming the images circulating were “fake” and that no NEET-UG question papers were missing or tampered with in Bihar. The NTA also attributed the high scores to discrepancies in textbook editions, clarifying that the actual number of toppers was only 17, a figure not significantly higher than previous years.
Currently, the Supreme Court is deliberating petitions seeking the cancellation of the NEET-UG 2024 exam. However, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has indicated reluctance to order a re-test for nearly 24 lakh students, many from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, unless absolutely necessary, citing it as a “last option”.
