 "Not Bihar, CBI reveals NEET paper leaked first from THIS state; SC to hear case on July 18")
As the NEET-UG controversy continues to brew, both NTA and CBI have put forth their arguments and reports to give a sense of what might have happened to cast doubt over the future of over 24 lakh students.
The Central Bureau of Investigation said that the NEET-UG question paper was first leaked in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh, after which they found their way to Bihar. It is important to note that it was first believed that the question papers were first leaked in Bihar, which prompted several arrests in the state.
An investigation by the CBI also revealed that the case of paper leaks also has strong links to one of the most prominent schools in Jharkhand. There is also evidence of a “solver gang’s” involvement in the leak.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has scheduled a further hearing of the NEET controversy on July 18.
In its previous hearing, the apex court said a re-test may be ordered if the entirety of the process is affected and sought details from the National Testing Agency and the CBI including the timing and manner of the paper leak, besides the numbers of wrongdoers, to know the extent of its effect.
“Let us not be in self-denial. Self-denial is only adding to the problem,” a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud told the Centre and the NTA, which conducts the prestigious test, in a string of strongly-worded observations.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsWhat else did the CBI probe reveal?
Explaining the chain of events that led to the paper leak, a CBI official said:
Nine sets of NEET-UG question papers were sent to the State Bank of India branch two days before the exam date (May 5) for safekeeping
Two of these sets went to one of the exam centers, the Oasis School in Hazaribagh. However, the seals of these two sets were found to be broken even before they reached the centre
The principal of the Oasis School, Ehsanul Haque, who was designated as the coordinator of the NEET-UG exam in the entire district as well as the vice-principal Imtiaz Alam, the observer of the medical exam, failed to report the abnormality to the National Testing Agency
The Economic Offences Wing of the Bihar Police confirmed Haque and Alam’s involvement in the paper leak after evidence was found at a safe house in Bihar’s Patna that revealed that two other accused of the paper leak earlier had sold the question papers to at least 30 candidates for Rs 30-50 lakh each
What has the NTA said?
The National Testing Agency, on the other hand, has told the Supreme Court that there is no evidence that question papers went missing. The Supreme Court is currently hearing the NEET controversy case.
In its affidavit to the apex court, NTA said, “No question paper was found missing in any Trunk. Each question paper has a unique serial number and was assigned to a particular candidate. No locks were found broken. The reports from NTA Observers did not report anything adverse. The CCTV coverage in the Command Centre was constantly monitored. No untoward incident or any pointer to paper leakage was observed.”
Data analysis finds no mass malpractices
Meanwhile, a data analysis of the NEET-UG results by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras shows “that there is neither any indication of mass malpractice nor a localised set of candidates being benefitted leading to abnormal scores.”
“IIT-Madras was also requested to ascertain through data analytics if there are any suspected cases who could have indulged in wrongdoing and other red flags which indicate any aberration in the spread of top performers/ candidates. A set of parameters, which shall form the basis of the analytics, was also requested to be devised,” the Department of Higher Education said in its affidavit.
It added, “An exhaustive and elaborate technical evaluation of the data pertaining to the NEET-UG 2024 examination was carried out by IIT-Madras, using parameters like marks distribution, city-wise and centre-wise rank distribution and candidates spread over marks range.”
With inputs from agencies
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