NEET paper leak case: CBI names 13 accused in its first charge sheet
The agency said that it used advanced forensic techniques, artificial intelligence, CCTV footage, (mobile) tower location analysis to gather evidence.
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday filed its first charge sheet in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate or NEET-UG exam paper leak probe, naming 13 accused persons, adding that its investigations are continuing in the case.
The federal agency said in a statement that it used “advanced forensic techniques, artificial intelligence, CCTV footage, (mobile) tower location analysis, etc. to gather evidence against the accused.”
It has so far arrested 40 people, including an alleged mastermind of the paper leak from a Hazaribagh school, several MBBS students who acted as solvers, and facilitators.
Among those named in the first charge sheet are Nitish Kumar, Amit Anand, Sikander Yadvendu, Ashutosh Kumar-1, Roshan Kumar, Manish Prakash, Ashutosh Kumar-2, Akhilesh Kumar, Avdesh Kumar, Anurag Yadav, Abhishek Kumar, Shivnandan Kumar, and Ayush Raj.
The anti-corruption probe agency initiated a larger conspiracy probe in the leak on June 23, acting on a reference from the Union ministry of education, which said the exam was marred by irregularities, cheating, impersonation, and other malpractices. It formed special teams to investigate the leaks in different states and carried out raids at 58 locations in the last 39 days.
A CBI spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday, “CBI has utilized advanced forensic techniques, artificial intelligence technology, CCTV footage, tower location analysis, etc. to gather evidence against the accused.”
The agency, he said, “is continuing further investigation against other accused/suspects and on other aspects of the case.”
“As and when further investigation against these accused/suspects is complete, supplementary charge sheet(s) will be filed,” the spokesperson added.
The Supreme Court last month instructed the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Central government to submit affidavits detailing their actions and asked for a status report from the CBI. Acknowledging compromise in the NEET-UG exam due to a question paper leak, the Supreme Court also directed the NTA to outline measures taken to identify beneficiaries of the leak.
In its affidavit, the Union government said there were no large-scale breach of confidentiality in the pan-India examination and opposed the re-conduct of the exam, arguing that such a move would disrupt the academic calendar and is unnecessary due to the lack of widespread evidence of malpractice.
The 2024 NEET-UG, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, and other related undergraduate courses across India, has been beset with a series of allegations ranging from question paper leaks, inflated marking, and arbitrary allowance of grace marks—issues that have become a nationwide flashpoint for political parties, leading to thousands of students protesting for weeks.
This year’s examination was conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 abroad, with 2.3 million candidates appearing for it. The results, declared on June 4, raised further suspicions when 67 candidates achieved perfect scores of 720, with several of them belonging to the same examination centre. The Union government has already replaced the head of NTA after the controversy erupted.