In a 7-Layer Package for NEET Question Papers, a Metal Box with Two Locks
Hazaribagh: For the first time, a District Coordinator of the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the NEET-UG (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test), has confirmed that the question papers were tampered with. Dr. Ahsanul Haque, who is also the principal of Oasis School in Hazaribagh where the exam was held on May 5, stated that the tampering was detected by officers from the Bihar Police's Economic Offences Unit (EOU), who were investigating the alleged paper leak until the Central Bureau of Investigation took over last week.
"In an exclusive interview with NDTV, Dr. Haque revealed that on June 21, EOU investigators discovered tampering with the seven-layer packaging of the NEET question papers. The tampering was identified in the innermost seventh layer while checking the unused papers at the school," Dr. Haque said.
The tampering raises questions as to how the innermost layer was compromised while the outer layers remained intact. One of these layers is a metal box secured with two locks—one digital, programmed to unlock two hours before the exam, and one mechanical, which requires cutting with a file.
Dr. Haque indicated that the weak link in the custody chain of the question papers appears to be the courier service. Blue Dart courier is responsible for transporting the papers from Ranchi to Hazaribagh and then to the State Bank of India, where they are stored in lockers.
Officials suggested that proper procedures were not followed in transferring the papers. Typically, papers are flown from Delhi to state capitals and then moved to bank lockers. Sealed boxes of question papers are opened at the bank two hours before the exam in the presence of the local magistrate and centre heads, with the entire process being videographed. The sealed envelopes are then delivered to the exam centres and handed to invigilators in front of two candidates as witnesses.
Arrests have been made across Bihar and Jharkhand following allegations of widespread irregularities in the exam, which over 24 lakh aspirants took. Six men from Nalanda in Bihar were arrested in Deoghar, Jharkhand, three days ago. Although they were hiding in a rented house, their specific role in the paper leak remains unclear. In Bihar, 13 people have been arrested, with some admitting to charging ₹30 to 40 lakh per candidate for solved answer sheets that had to be memorized. At least 30 candidates received these solved answer papers, indicating a massive, organized network operating across Bihar and Jharkhand.
A connection to Delhi and Maharashtra has also emerged with the arrest of a school teacher in Latur. Jalil Umarkhan Pathan and Sanjay Tukaram Jadhav, who taught in district administration-run schools and operated private coaching centers, were linked to a man named Gangadhar from Delhi. Gangadhar connected them with NEET aspirants willing to pay large sums for assistance.