Uttarakhand: NEET-2 question paper allegedly leaked, 3 arrested

Uttarakhand: In what can be a major cause of concern for many medical aspirants in India, three people have been reportedly arrested facing strong allegations of leaking the NEET-2 question paper. This incident has allegedly taken place in an examination centre in Ramnagar district of the state. 3 people have been arrested from Ramnagar, while 2 people have also been taken into custody from Haldwani-for their alleged involvement.

Sanjay Kumar Prabhat of Sheikhpura and Ajay Sinha of Rohtas (both in Bihar), and Nishat Ahmed of Delhi are the three accused in the case who have been arrested so far. They further shared names of Dinesh Prasad of Patna and Vikas Kumar of Chhapra (also in Bihar), who were later arrested from Haldwani.

A TOI report implied that the 3 accused in the case were arrested from a resort near Corbett National Park, charged with an allegation of selling the question papers to as many as 44 medical aspirants. It is further reported that the papers which have been seized are fake. They are not the original papers answered by the candidates. Then also, there are many aspirants and parents allegedly duped by Rs 10 to 50 lakh.

An HT report confirms that the question paper was changed last minute by the management after being informed of the leak by Nainital police on Saturday night, senior superintendent of police, Nainital, Sweety Aggarwal said. Around 40 students have reportedly confessed to paying between Rs 10 to 40 lakh for the leaked question paper.

Over forty thousand candidates took NEET-2 in Ramnagar alone. These students have also confirmed that the report on the paper leak is true. These candidates also implied that the alleged culprits in the case have leaked the question paper-by selling it for Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. A more concerning fact is that the accused were also in touch with candidates in Delhi, Patna, Ranchi, Lucknow, besides more cities.

Circle officer, Ramnagar, Swatantra Kumar have implied in their statement that an interstate gang is allegedly involved for leaking the paper in the region. They received money in advance from the candidates who were present in a resort in Ramnagar. These candidates were to appear for the exam from the Haldwani centre. They were to be delivered the question paper on Saturday night. Undercover officers reached the resort and the alleged accused were caught right there.

The students from Bihar implied that Haldwani was their examination centre choice as the region had suffered from a natural calamity. This led them to presume that they will get away easily with the scam.

It may be noted that CBSE had earlier given a list of strict dos and don'ts for candidates appearing for NEET-2. This step was taken after CBSE had to face similar crisis last year; after the AIPMT question paper was leaked. Last year, CBSE was forced to conduct the exam second time. However, this time the CBSE has not confirmed the news as yet.