The CBI on Thursday arrested four medical students of AIIMS Patna, who are alleged to be part of the 'solver module' working in collusion with a key accused held two days ago, in connection with the NEET-UG paper leak case, officials said.
AIIMS Patna will hold meetings of its academic and administrative committees to take appropriate action against four students.
Three students of MBBS third year -- Chandan Singh, Rahul Anant, and Kumar Shanu -- and one second year student -- Karan Jain -- were arrested after detailed questioning by a CBI team, they said.
The move comes two days after the CBI arrested Pankaj Kumar alias Aditya, a 2017-batch civil engineer from the National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur, for allegedly stealing the NEET-UG 2024 paper from a trunk of the National Testing Agency (NTA) in Hazaribagh.
It is alleged that the four arrested students were part of the solver module which was working in collusion with Kumar, the officials said.
Kumar had allegedly stolen the paper from the NTA trunk and given it to a group of solvers in Hazaribagh, they said, adding the arrested medical students were allegedly part of that group.
With the four arrests on Thursday, the total number of persons arrested in connection with cases pertaining to leakage, impersonation and other irregularities in the medical entrance exam has now reached 18.
Meanwhile, the CBI produced the arrested MBBS students before a special court in Patna on Thursday. The court sent them to four-day CBI custody.
The students were taken away from their hostel rooms on Wednesday in the presence of senior faculty members of AIIMS who were informed in advance that the students needed for the probe, the officials said.
The agency has sealed their hostel rooms, they said.
How Did AIIMS Patna respond?
Gopal Krushna Pal, the institute's executive director & CEO, expressed regret over the incident's impact on student morale and the organisation's reputation.
Pal said, "Soon after receiving confirmation from the CBI that all four MBBS students of AIIMS Patna have been arrested in connection with the NEET-UG paper leak case, we called meetings of our academic and administrative committees to take appropriate action against them. The process has been initiated, and decisions regarding their actions will be made by tomorrow."
"The CBI has taken away four students. Chandan Singh, Rahul Anant, and Kumar Shanu are third year students and Karan Jain is a second year student," AIIMS Patna Director G K Paul said.
He said a senior officer had sent them photographs and mobile numbers of students who were required in the probe.
A team of CBI picked up the students in the presence of dean, hostel warden, and OSD to director, Paul said.
Kumar, a resident of Bokaro, was arrested from Patna on Tuesday, officials had earlier said.
The CBI had also arrested one Raju Singh who allegedly helped Kumar in stealing the paper, they said, adding that Raju was arrested from Hazaribagh.
The central probe agency, which is investigating the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam, has lodged six FIRs. The FIR from Bihar pertains to paper leak while the remaining ones from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra are regarding impersonation of candidates and cheating.
The agency's own FIR on a reference from the Union education ministry pertains to a "comprehensive investigation" into the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024.
The NEET-UG is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions. This year, the exam was conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 abroad. More than 23 lakh candidates had appeared for the test.
(With PTI inputs)
