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CBI files 'final' chargesheet in NEET-UG paper leak case, number of accused reaches 40

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday filed its third chargesheet in the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (Undergraduate) or NEET-UG paper leak case against 21 people, taking the list of accused persons to 40, ThePrint has learnt has.

Sources in the agency told ThePrint that the latest charge sheet filed in the special court for CBI cases in Patna is an “important” document that details the sequence of events and the roles of the key accused.

Pankaj Kumar, who allegedly stole the questionnaire from a suitcase belonging to the National Testing Agency (NTA) in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh, has been identified as one of the key players. Pankaj, who hails from Bokaro and had studied civil engineering at the National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur, was nabbed by official sleuths in Patna on July 16 this year.

“He was the one who stole a question from the trunk of the National Testing Agency in Hazaribagh and was instrumental in circulating the paper,” an agency source told ThePrint.

The central agency had taken over the probe from the economic offenses wing of Bihar Police on the recommendation of the education ministry after complaints surfaced about widespread compromise in the May 5 exam at 4,750 centers in 571 cities. So far, the investigating agency has arrested 48 people in this case and as per the latest charge sheet, the total number of accused accused is 40.

The document was filed in the Patna special court just two weeks after the agency filed it separate Indictments against six defendants.

Besides the Bihar EOU case, the CBI also took over cases filed in Rajasthan and Gujarat and probed widespread malpractices in the conduct of the exams.

In the latest charge sheet, the agency had named Baldev Kumar alias Chintu, a close associate of the alleged mastermind Sanjeev Mukhiya, who had allegedly received the solved NEET question paper in PDF format on his phone to distribute it to the candidates involved in their scheme , and a candidate named Sunny Kumar, who hails from Mukhiya's home district of Nalanda.

In addition, the CBI had also named Dr. Ahsanul Haque, the principal of Oasis School in Hazaribagh and NTA coordinator in the city, Mohammed Imtiyaz Alam, the vice-principal of the school and superintendent of the NTA center in Oasis School, a journalist named Jamaluddin, who allegedly assisted the duo in the revelation The question paper and a co-conspirator, Aman Kumar Singh, are said to have helped.

These accused have been charged under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy), Section 109 (facilitatory), Section 409 (criminal breach of trust), Section 420 (cheating), Section 380 (theft), Section 201 (enforcement of disappearance of evidence). and Section 411 (dishonest receipt of stolen property) of the Indian Penal Code in the second charge sheet.

Earlier, on August 1, the CBI had booked 13 people, mostly accused, who were under the custody of the Bihar Police (EOU) before the federal probe agency intervened. These 13 included aides of Sanjeev Mukhiya, who were involved in transporting candidates from the state of Bihar from a children's play school on the outskirts of Patna to the NEET exam center in the city, along with the candidates and their parents, who were allegedly part of the conspiracy.

(Edited by Gitanjali Das)

Also read: NEET paper leak: Bihar EOU finds burnt booklet 100% match to original T3 set, says cover 'tampered'

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