CBI arrests five in NEET-UG paper leak case, accused alleges protection of influential figures

An accused arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Jaipur on May 13 alleged that influential individuals involved in the NEET-UG paper leak case were being protected.

The accused was produced before a Jaipur court in the evening. A CBI official said that the accused were being taken to Delhi on transit remand.

When media personnel tried to speak to the accused inside the vehicle, one of them said that "bigwigs were being protected while ordinary people are harassed (bade logon ko bachaya jata aur aam aadmi ko pareshan kiya jata hai)."

The CBI has arrested five people in connection with the NEET-UG paper leak case, including three from Jaipur, one from Gurugram, and one from Nashik.

The investigation relates to irregularities that led to the cancellation of the examination conducted on May 3, in which over 22 lakh candidates appeared.

The Jaipur-based accused have been identified as Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal, and Dinesh Biwal. The remaining two arrested are Yash Yadav from Gurugram and Shubham Khairnar from Nashik.

The Rajasthan Special Operations Group (SOG), which initially probed the case, traced the origin of a suspected “guess paper” containing questions similar to those in the exam.

Investigators found that it allegedly originated from a medical student from Sikar district studying MBBS in Kerala, who later shared it with friends and a hostel owner, expanding the suspected network.

Following these findings, the case was handed over to the CBI on government orders.

According to police sources in Gurugram, Yash Yadav, a BAMS student from Khera village in the Farrukhnagar area, was arrested from his residence.

He is reportedly a first-year student at Manjira Devi Medical College in Uttarakhand. He had previously stayed in Sikar while attending coaching classes, where he is believed to have come into contact with individuals linked to the alleged racket.

Acting on technical inputs and intelligence, an SOG team raided Khera village late Monday night. Yadav was found at his home during the operation.

He was first questioned at the residence and later taken to Rajasthan for further investigation, officials said.