CBI Files 3rd Charge-sheet in NEET Paper Theft Case

The charge-sheet was filed Sections 120B (Criminal Conspiracy) read with 109, 201, 380, 409, 411, 420 IPC, and Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018) before the Special Judge Court for CBI, Patna, according to a statement issued by CBI.

It named Raj Kumar Singh alias Raju Singh, Surendra Kumar Sharma alias Mol, Rakesh Ranjan alias Rocky, Shashikant Paswan alias Shashi alias Pasu, Abhinas Kumar alias Bunty, Karan Jain, Kumar Shanu, Rahul Anand, Chandan Singh, Surbhi Kumari, Deependra Sharma, Kumar Manglam Vishnoi, Raunak Raj, Sandeep Kumar, Amit Kumar, Sanjay Kumar, Ranjit Kumar Beura alias Pintu, Amit Prasad Maharana alias Munnu, Dhiren Kumar Panda, Susanta Mohanty, and Pankaj Kumar alias Aditya in the charge-sheet.

The charge-sheet consists of more than 5500 pages wherein CBI has cited 298 witnesses, 290 documents and 45 material objects. The investigation revealed that the NEET UG-2024 question paper was stolen from the control room of Oasis school, Hazaribagh on the morning of May 5, 2024 after the trunks reached the school from the Bank Vault after 8 am.

According to CBI, Pankaj Kumar was clandestinely allowed entry into the control room by Ahsanul Haque, the Principal, and Imtiyaz Alam, the Vice Principal of the school as part of the conspiracy. Pankaj Kumar tampered with the hinges of the trunk containing the question papers, removed one question paper, photographed all its pages, replaced back the paper and resealed the trunk, and exited the control room.

Pankaj used a sophisticated tool kit to open and seal the trunk. This tool kit was seized by CBI from the residence of Pankaj Kumar. After leaving the school premises, he handed over the photos of the Q-paper to his accomplice, Surendra Kumar Sharma, who was at the Raj Guest House, Hazaribagh.

At this Raj Guest House, the stolen question papers were printed by the accused and given to a group of solvers, Karan Jain, Kumar Shanu, Rahul Anand, Chandan Singh, Surbhi Kumari, Deependra Sharma, Raunak Raj, Sandeep Kumar, and Amit Kumar.

All these solvers are MBBS students who achieved seats on Merit in the previous years. They have all been traced and arrested. These solvers together solved the NEET Q-Paper. Initially Botany - Zoology, then Chemistry and finally Physics questions were solved.

The solved question papers were then distributed to the candidates present at the Raj Guest House, Hazaribagh. Further, the solved question paper was scanned and sent digitally to predetermined locations where the members of the accused gang received them.

These gang members then printed copies of the solved NEET UG 2024 paper and distributed them to selected candidates who were physically present at those locations. Only those candidates who paid money in advance were allowed to enter these locations.

The candidates were subsequently allowed to leave for their examination centers after 12.15 pm, but were prohibited from carrying the printed copies with them. At each location, the accused persons destroyed the printed copies of the solved papers after collecting back from the candidates.

The candidates were frisked before leaving and had not been allowed to carry their mobile phones into these locations. The half burnt Q-paper pieces seized at Learn Play School, Patna, had led CBI to the Oasis School at Hazaribagh based on the serial code printed on the Q-paper. The CBI has identified the gang members involved and the solvers.

The CBI has also identified 144 candidates present in these locations who were beneficiaries of this paper leak and necessary legal action is being initiated against them.21 mobile phones used by the main accused in this case have also been recovered from various water bodies with the help of the divers by CBI.

So far, 49 accused have been arrested in this case, including the key conspirators and the solvers. Three charge-sheets have been filed against 40 accused so far. Further investigation is continuing against other accused.