NEET row: CBI registers FIR to probe irregularities in medical entrance exam

The medical entrance exam has been marred with controversies since the announcement of results on June 5 and the Centre handed over the probe to CBI.

New Delhi: Days after filing a case on the irregularities in the UGC-NET exam, the CBI on Sunday registered a case in connection with irregularities in the conduct of the NEET-UG (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Under Graduates) test held in May.

Special teams have been formed by the CBI to investigate the matter on "top priority" and investigators are being sent to Patna and Godhra where local police have registered cases on suspected paper leak.

The registration of the FIR came on a complaint filed by the Director of the Department of Higher Education in the Ministry of Education after the union government decided to ask the CBI to investigate the case. The case has been registered under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.

In the complaint, the Ministry of Education claimed that "certain isolated incidents" occurred in "a few states" during the conduct of the NEET(UG) 2024 examination on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 cities abroad, with over 23 lakh candidates appearing for the examination.

A CBI statement said the Ministry of Education has requested the CBI to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the entire gamut of alleged irregularities, including conspiracy, cheating, impersonation, breach of trust, and destruction of evidence by candidates, institutes, and middlemen, including attempted irregularities.

The Ministry also requested CBI for investigation into the role of public servants, if any, connected with the conduct of the examination and also into the entire gamut of events and the larger conspiracy, the statement said.

The CBI is already investigating three cases related to NEET registered in May 2018, September 2021 and July 2022 against private education consultants, middlemen and students following cases of impersonation at exam centres.

On June 20, the CBI had registered a case against unknown people in connection with the malpractices in the scrapped UGC-NET examination after the government made it public that the test was compromised.

"It has been alleged in the complaint that University Grants Commission (UGC) received inputs on 19.06.2024 from National Cyber Crime Threat Analysis Unit of Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre(I4C) under Union Ministry of Home Affairs that integrity of UGC Net -2024 Examination, conducted by National Testing Agency(NTA) on 18.06.2024 in two shifts across different cities in the country, may have been compromised," a CBI statement had said.