After the Union Health Ministry handed over to CBI the investigation into the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the NEET examination, the officials of the Central agency arrived in Bihar's Patna on Monday morning to take forward the probe.
The CBI filed an FIR on Sunday in this regard after the Union Health Ministry, in its complaint to the probe agency, stated that "certain isolated incidents" occurred in a few states during the conduct of the examination.
The case was investigated by the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the Bihar Police. The EOU arrested 18 people in connection with the case, all of who will now be handed over to the CBI for questioning. "The CBI officers are collecting evidence related to the case from the EOU," an official told PTI.
The evidence collected by the EOU includes pieces of the burnt question paper recovered from a house in Patna, mobile phones of those arrested, SIM cards, laptops, post-dated cheques and reference question papers provided by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The official added that all 18 accused will be taken to Delhi for detailed interrogation by obtaining transit remand from a Patna court.
Of those in custody, a junior engineer in Danapur Town Council, Sikander Prasad Yadvendu, may face additional charges of disproportionate assets (DA) since he was found to possess huge assets that are disproportionate to his known source of income. Yadvendu, originally from Samastipur, has been identified as the prime suspect in the case, he said.
"He has a history of involvement in criminal activities. Before becoming a junior engineer in 2012, he worked as a contractor in Ranchi. He was previously implicated in an LED scam worth Rs 3 crore. He has served a jail sentence for his role in that case," the officer told PTI.
Meanwhile, the NTA on Sunday debarred 110 students from Bihar after detection of "malpractices". These include 17 candidates who appeared from centres in Bihar, 30 from Gujarat's Godhara and 63 others.
Several persons linked to the custody chain of the question papers, including bank officials and employees of a courier company, are also being quizzed as part of the investigation. Officials believe Sanjeev Mukhiya's gang is behind the crime and a manhunt is on to nab him.
"The NTA also provided the roll code of 15 aspirants during the course of investigation for their detailed examination. While four have been examined, the remaining 11 have not turned up before the investigators for their examination," it said. Now the case is being handed over to the CBI for further investigation, it added.
