New Delhi , 24 June :
On Sunday, Maharashtra Police arrested four individuals, including two teachers, in connection with the alleged leak of the NEET undergraduate medical entrance exam question paper. The Nanded Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) detained Sanjay Tukaram Jadhav and Jalil Umarkhan Pathan, both teachers from Latur, on Saturday. After being questioned and released on Sunday morning, they were re-arrested along with two others: Iranna Mashnaji Kongalwar from Dharashiv district and Gangadhar, a resident of Delhi.
An FIR has been filed against all four under sections of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024. The FIR claims that the accused operated a racket, selling exam information to students for money. The ATS raided the residences of Jadhav and Pathan after receiving information about their involvement in these activities. The investigation uncovered suspicious messages related to exam hall tickets and financial transactions on their phones.
A police official stated, “The investigation suggests that Jadhav might have passed on the hall ticket details to Kongalwar, who then forwarded them to Gangadhar in Delhi, suspected to be the mastermind behind the leak.”
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by the Latur Deputy Commissioner of Police has been established to further probe the case. The NEET-UG exam has faced student protests over allegations of a question paper leak and the awarding of grace marks to over 1,500 students. These grace marks were later revoked, and the affected students were offered a re-test.
Amid the ongoing controversy, the CBI took over the investigation, filing an FIR in connection with alleged irregularities in NEET-UG based on a reference from the Union education ministry. Special teams were dispatched to Gujarat and Bihar, where police have registered cases of question paper leaks.
