The Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the Bihar Police on Friday arrested five more people in connection with the alleged leak of the NEET-UG question paper, bringing the total number of arrests in the case to 18. The latest arrests were made in Jharkhand's Deoghar, according to a police official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
All five individuals were taken to Patna for further questioning.
Earlier, two people were arrested from Ranchi: Awadesh Kumar and his son Abhishek, a NEET aspirant. In his confession letter, Awadesh had said he paid Rs 40 lakh to alleged mastermind Sikandar Yadavendu for the question paper.
Authorities believe Awadesh may have had ties to Sikandar Yadavendu through their past working relationship in Jharkhand's construction industry.
Sources said that Sikandar, a former contractor who now works as a junior engineer for the Danapur Municipal Council, has significant investments in Jharkhand, including a prominent sports outlet named Infinity owned by his son in Ranchi and a sprawling residence in the city's Bariatu locality.
The Bihar Police's Economic Offences Unit (EOU) is preparing to register a disproportionate assets case against Sikandar, sources added.
This development follows the earlier arrest of 13 individuals by Bihar Police, including four NEET-UG candidates and their family members, in connection with the case.
The arrested individuals included aspirant Anurag Yadav, Sikandar Yadavendu and two others, Nitish Kumar and Amit Anand. They have confessed to receiving the question paper a day prior to the exam and memorising the answers, police sources said.
The arrests were made following an anonymous tip-off to the Patna Police regarding four suspected criminals in an SUV en route to a safe house. This led the police to a location where around 30 NEET-UG candidates had allegedly paid large sums of Rs 30-50 lakh for leaked exam questions and answers.
The NEET-UG exam has seen students protest over allegations of a question paper leak and grace marks awarded to over 1,500 students. The grace marks were later scrapped and the affected students were offered a re-test.
