From Coaching Rooms To Exam Halls: CBI Maps NEET Leak Chain

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Srinagar- The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday claimed to have cracked the NEET-UG paper leak case with the arrest of a Pune-based professor alleged to be the“source” of the leaked chemistry paper.
Professor P V Kulkarni, a chemistry expert from Latur who had served on panels involved in setting NEET question papers over the years, was arrested after what the agency described as“thorough interrogation”.

The agency alleged that Kulkarni exploited his privileged access to confidential examination material and conducted special coaching sessions at his Pune residence during the last week of April, shortly before the May 3 examination.

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According to investigators, students attending these sessions were dictated questions, answer options and solutions that later appeared in the actual NEET-UG examination.

“Students paid several lakhs of rupees to attend these sessions where they wrote down the questions in notebooks, which later tallied exactly with the examination paper,” a CBI spokesperson said.

How The Leak Network Allegedly Worked
The agency said Kulkarni had mobilised students with the help of co-accused Manisha Waghmare, who was arrested on May 14.

On Thursday, the CBI also arrested Dhananjay Lokhande from Ahilyanagar.

Investigators alleged that Lokhande received the leaked paper from Waghmare and passed it to Nashik-based Shubham Khairnar, who then shared it with Yash Yadav for wider circulation.

The agency has also arrested three individuals from Jaipur - Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal and Dinesh Biwal - in connection with the alleged racket.

According to officials, Khairnar informed Yadav in April that Mangilal Biwal was willing to pay Rs 10 to 12 lakh for arranging leaked NEET questions for his younger son.

Investigators alleged that nearly 500 to 600 questions were shared with Yadav, with assurances that the material was enough to secure admission to a reputed medical college.

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Questions Allegedly Shared Before Exam
Officials claimed that Mangilal Biwal later circulated the leaked questions among relatives, while Yadav allegedly encouraged Vikas Biwal to identify more aspirants interested in purchasing the paper to recover part of the money involved in the deal.

The alleged agreement for the leaked paper was struck for nearly Rs 10 lakh, investigators said.

The agency further claimed that students attending the private coaching sessions wrote down the dictated questions, which later matched the actual NEET-UG paper conducted on May 3.

Raids, Seizures And Digital Evidence
CBI teams conducted searches at several locations across the country over the last 24 hours and seized mobile phones, electronic gadgets and incriminating documents.

Officials said forensic and technical analysis of the seized material was currently underway.

Investigators claimed that preliminary analysis of digital devices had already revealed incriminating chats, leaked question papers and other electronic evidence. Further forensic examination is expected to help retrieve deleted data.

Read Also NEET-UG Re-Test On June 21, CBT Mode From Next Year What Students Need to Know About NEET-UG Re-Exam

Massive Exam Under Scanner
The NEET-UG examination, conducted by the National Testing Agency, was held across 551 cities in India and 14 overseas centres, with nearly 23 lakh candidates registered for the test.

The NTA had earlier said it received information regarding alleged malpractice on the evening of May 7 and subsequently escalated the matter to central agencies for investigation.

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