NEET paper leak case: CBI arrests one more accused

CBI arrests Pawan Kumar in NEET-UG paper leak case, recovers documents and phones from pond in Jharkhand.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested one more accused, Pawan Kumar, from Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district on July 26 in connection with the NEET-UG paper leak case. This is the 37th arrest in the case in Jharkhand and Bihar.

The agency recovered a sack full of documents and a few phones from a pond based on information given by Mr. Pawan whose name surfaced during the interrogation of Amit Kumar. Mr. Amit was arrested from Dhanbad along with Aman Singh.

Mr. Amit told the sleuths that Mr. Pawan had played a pivotal role in distributing the leaked question paper. After CBI received information that the accused was in Dhanbad and was hiding in his house under Sadar police station, a team reached the town on Friday and took Mr. Pawan into custody.

Mr. Pawan told the agency that documents and phones along with other equipment were thrown into a pond in Sudamdih locality. The CBI took him to the location and after recovering the items left for Patna with the accused.

The CBI is also looking for Amit Singh, brother of Mr. Aman who was arrested on the information provided by Baldev Kumar and Mukesh Kumar. The solved question paper was received on the mobile of Mr. Baldev and printouts were taken out and distributed among candidates at play school in Patna. Mr. Mukesh picked up and dropped the candidates. Both are close to Sanjeev Mukhiya, one of the key suspects in the case.

Read | A half-burnt paper scrap proves vital clue for CBI probe into NEET leak

The youths arrested from Dhanbad are linked to the Oasis School of Hazaribagh. The CBI has already arrested the principal and vice-principal of the school. On July 25, the agency issued a press note stating that the NEET (UG) question paper was accessed from the Oasis School, Hazaribagh, on the morning of May 5 by Pankaj Kumar, one of the masterminds of the paper leak, in connivance with the Hazaribagh NTA city coordinator-cum-principal of Oasis School and the centre superintendent-cum-vice principal of the school, and another associate from Hazaribagh.