The Bihar Police on Monday said they busted a “cheating racket” in Lakhesarai during the retake of the National Eligibility with Undergraduate Entrance Test or NEET-UG on Sunday by arresting 30 people, including medical students and employees of a biometrics company involved in the examination process.
Lakhesarai Superintendent of Police Prerna said they raided examination centers in three schools and arrested all the accused and recovered their mobile phones and other documents from them. She added that 30 people, including nine impersonators, a candidate, two assistants, and 18 biometric employees.
One of those arrested, Mayank Kashyap, a resident of Hajipur and a fourth-year student, entered the Hasanpur examination center in collusion with an employee of the biometrics company, Ankit Kumar, the police said.
Kashyap allegedly entered the examination center pretending to be an employee of the biometrics company. After interrogating Kashyap, the employees of the biometrics company were arrested, and the impersonators were subsequently arrested.
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Police identified Ravi Shankar, another student of Pavapuri Medical College in Rajgir, and Arpit Raj, of ANM Medical College and Hospital in Gaya, as the masterminds behind the network. The Central Bureau of Investigation has questioned Raj in connection with the 2024 NEET paper leak case.
Shankar and Raj allegedly roped in students in medical colleges as ‘solvers’ and to appear in the examination. The investigator said more people associated with the gang and their dealings are expected to emerge as the investigation progresses.
Sub-district police officer Shivam Kumar cited the preliminary investigation and said that every candidate will be charged $10 to 12 lakh for the impersonation and added that an advance of one or two lakh rupees was taken. Kumar said the balance will be paid after the students pass the exam.
Police were investigating bank accounts, details of phone calls and digital transactions. They cited investigations and said that the impersonators violated the verification systems at the examination centers in collusion with the employees of the biometrics company and entered the examination center instead of the real candidates.
More than two million medical students have appeared for re-examination across 5,454 centers in India and abroad amid extensive security arrangements. The re-examination was scheduled after NEET was canceled on May 12 as central agencies found that the question paper had been hacked. This was the second time in two years that NEET-UG came under scrutiny.
