PATNA/HAZARIBAG/CHATRA: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the NEET-UG paper leak case on Friday arrested three persons, including principal Ehsanul Haque and vice-principal Md Imtiaz of the Oasis School, Hazaribag, and interrogated 13 suspects arrested by Patna police at Beur Central Jail in the Bihar capital. The CBI sleuths also visited Kankarbagh with two accused to explore the potential involvement of Rocky, nephew of alleged mastermind Sanjeev Mukhia, in the case.
The principal and vice-principal of Hazaribag school, one of the centres for the exam conducted on May 5, were arrested after three days of questioning involving more than 60 hours over allegations of tampering of question papers. The identity of the third person couldn’t be ascertained till the time of filing this report. The three arrested persons will be produced in CBI court in Patna.
The CBI had seized cellphones, laptops, and the school’s CCTV camera footage with the assistance of forensic experts on Thursday. According to sources, the CBI uncovered crucial evidence from the three-month call records obtained from Haque’s phone, which led to his arrest. Haque, who served as a district coordinator for NEET, had earlier expressed concerns about a potential leak originating from a private courier company and SBI, rather than his school, which served as a NEET centre.
'Glue stick used to reseal packet containing question papers'He pointed out the possibility that the breach might have occurred at their end.
The CBI, which was initially concentrating on the route from the office of the private courier firm in Nutan Nagar to the SBI main branch in Jullu Park, shifted its focus after analyzing CCTV footage. The footage confirmed that no tampering occurred along this stretch, leading the CBI to suspect Haque, who consistently provided the same responses during questioning.
Sources told TOI that the CBI's attention turned to Oasis School, located on Mandai road near Kallu Chowk, and its staff. The agency began gathering digital evidence and discovered that the e-rickshaw had gone directly to Oasis School on May 3, instead of proceeding to the SBI main branch where it was supposed to be stored in the strongroom. CBI sources said at the school, the aluminium box was tampered with, and the packet containing the question paper was removed. A glue stick was used to reseal the packet containing the question paper.
The Economic Offences Unit (EOU), which had been investigating the case before it was handed over to the CBI, also corroborated these findings, according to sources.
In Patna, the CBI sleuths interrogated the 13 suspects at Beur Central Jail and visited the city's Kankarbagh locality with two accused - Mukesh and Baldev Kumar alias Chintu - to explore potential involvement of Rocky, nephew of alleged mastermind Sanjeev Mukhia, in the case.
Rocky, who owns a hotel in Ranchi, is accused of arranging solvers to crack the leaked question paper. He is currently on the run. Sources said the CBI sleuths searched Rocky's residence in Kankarbagh and collected evidence for further investigation. Rocky is an acquaintance of the arrested suspects, Chintu and Mukesh, who were apprehended in Deoghar on June 22 and later remanded in CBI custody from June 27 to July 4 by a special CBI court in Patna.
"The CBI investigated the cellphones of Chintu, Mukesh, Ashutosh, and Manish Prakash and found that all the suspects were in contact with each other for the last six months. Each accused was given different responsibilities," said an EOU source.
Ashutosh rented the closed Learn Play School building in Khemni Chak, Patna, which was allegedly used as a "safe house" by the "handlers" to coach around 20-25 students with the leaked question papers and answers from the night of May 4 to the morning of May 5. Manish took over the location for a day, bringing the students there, and later the accused burned the question papers and answers. Patna Police discovered the burned remains during a raid on May 5.
The leaked question papers were sent to Chintu's cellphone, while Mukesh transported the candidates to the "safe house" on May 4, where they memorized the answers. He also drove them to the exam centre on the morning of May 5.
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