PATNA/VADODARA: CBI began its investigation into the alleged irregularities in NEET-UG in Patna on Monday, with two officials visiting the office of economic offences unit (EOU) of Bihar police.
A team from Shastri Nagar police station also reached the EOU office which first exposed the matter by arresting some suspects and registering an FIR on May 5.
Sources said CBI questioned Chandra Kishore Yadav, father of Sonu Kumar, a student suspected to be involved in the alleged NEET-UG paper leak, at the EOU office.
“CBI officers are collecting evidence related to the case from EOU. Evidence collected by EOU during the course of investigation includes pieces of the burnt question paper recovered from a house in Patna, cellphones of those arrested, SIM cards, laptops, post-dated cheques, and reference question papers provided by National Testing Agency (NTA),” an EOU officer said.
“All those arrested are in judicial custody in Patna, and the CBI team might take them to Delhi for detailed interrogation by obtaining transit remand from a court here. A disproportionate assets case may be registered against the arrested accused Sikander Prasad Yadvendu, a junior engineer in Danapur Town Council, as he reportedly acquired huge assets that are disproportionate to his known source of income,” the officer said. Yadvendu, originally from Samastipur, has been identified as the prime suspect in the case.
Meanwhile, according to EOU sources, the serial code of the charred question paper remnants corresponded to an exam centre in Hazaribagh in Jharkhand. Suspicion fell upon a courier company operating in Jharkhand. The courier company had entrusted nine packets of question papers to a transport company, which was responsible for delivering them to strongrooms in two public sector banks.
However, on May 3, just two days prior to the examination, the transport company’s vehicle mistakenly delivered the nine packets to a sub-centre of the courier company in the Oreya area of Hazaribagh, rather than to the intended banks, said sources.
EOU sources added that an e-rickshaw was used to deliver the packets from the sub-centre to one of the banks. CCTV footage showed the packets being dropped off at 1.30pm on May 3. Sources said EOU investigators questioned the courier company about this incident, and the company claimed it had “no control over the driver who would deliver the papers”.
A top EOU officer said, “Since students received the paper ahead of the examination, it shows there was a leak in the chain of custody, which is sacrosanct. The courier and transportation firms, as well as the strongrooms, are all part of this chain.”
A team of CBI officials also reached Godhra in Gujarat on Monday to begin the probe into the alleged NEET irregularities case there.
A team from Shastri Nagar police station also reached the EOU office which first exposed the matter by arresting some suspects and registering an FIR on May 5.
Sources said CBI questioned Chandra Kishore Yadav, father of Sonu Kumar, a student suspected to be involved in the alleged NEET-UG paper leak, at the EOU office.
“CBI officers are collecting evidence related to the case from EOU. Evidence collected by EOU during the course of investigation includes pieces of the burnt question paper recovered from a house in Patna, cellphones of those arrested, SIM cards, laptops, post-dated cheques, and reference question papers provided by National Testing Agency (NTA),” an EOU officer said.
“All those arrested are in judicial custody in Patna, and the CBI team might take them to Delhi for detailed interrogation by obtaining transit remand from a court here. A disproportionate assets case may be registered against the arrested accused Sikander Prasad Yadvendu, a junior engineer in Danapur Town Council, as he reportedly acquired huge assets that are disproportionate to his known source of income,” the officer said. Yadvendu, originally from Samastipur, has been identified as the prime suspect in the case.
Meanwhile, according to EOU sources, the serial code of the charred question paper remnants corresponded to an exam centre in Hazaribagh in Jharkhand. Suspicion fell upon a courier company operating in Jharkhand. The courier company had entrusted nine packets of question papers to a transport company, which was responsible for delivering them to strongrooms in two public sector banks.
However, on May 3, just two days prior to the examination, the transport company’s vehicle mistakenly delivered the nine packets to a sub-centre of the courier company in the Oreya area of Hazaribagh, rather than to the intended banks, said sources.
EOU sources added that an e-rickshaw was used to deliver the packets from the sub-centre to one of the banks. CCTV footage showed the packets being dropped off at 1.30pm on May 3. Sources said EOU investigators questioned the courier company about this incident, and the company claimed it had “no control over the driver who would deliver the papers”.
A top EOU officer said, “Since students received the paper ahead of the examination, it shows there was a leak in the chain of custody, which is sacrosanct. The courier and transportation firms, as well as the strongrooms, are all part of this chain.”
A team of CBI officials also reached Godhra in Gujarat on Monday to begin the probe into the alleged NEET irregularities case there.