CBI files fifth charge sheet against five in NEET paper leak case

Patna/New Delhi, Nov 22 (IANS) As part of the ongoing probe into the NEET-UG 2024 question paper leak case, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a fifth charge sheet on Friday against five accused in a Special Court in Patna.

The charge sheet has been filed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 120-B (Criminal Conspiracy), 109 (Abetment), 409 (Criminal Breach of Trust), 420 (Cheating), 380 (Theft), 201 (Causing Disappearance of Evidence), and 411 (Dishonestly Receiving Stolen Property) and under Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018).

The five individuals named in the charge sheet are Amit Kumar Singh, a resident of Dhanbad; Sudip Kumar, a resident of Bokaro, Yuvraj Kumar, a resident of Bokaro, Abhimanyu Patel, a resident of Nalanda, and Amit Kumar, a resident of Patna.

With this, the total charge-sheeted accused in this case stands at 45, and all of them are still in judicial custody, the CBI said in a statement on Friday.

The probe agency had earlier filed four charge sheets on August 1, 2024, September 19, October 5 and November 11 against 40 other accused.

The CBI took over the investigation of the case from Shastri Nagar Police Station, Patna on June 23, 2024.

Names of the candidates, who are beneficiaries of the paper theft/unfair means and names of the MBBS student who had solved the stolen paper or who had appeared in the exam as impersonators have already been identified and shared with the National Testing Agency (NTA)/Ministry of Education.

The CBI probe into the alleged question paper leak for NEET-UG 2024 revealed that individuals colluded with exam officials and the question paper was accessed illegally prior to the exam, leading to suspicions of unfair advantages for certain candidates.

Despite these findings, the Supreme Court ultimately decided against cancelling the exam, citing insufficient evidence of widespread misconduct and the potential negative impact on over 24 lakh students who participated.

--IANS

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