The NIT-UG exam question paper leak has thrown over 2.2 million candidates across the country into confusion and harassment. Recent investigations have revealed that the question paper was originally bought in Nashik, Maharashtra for just Rs 10 lakh. The same question paper was later sold in Haryana for Rs 15 lakh. Investigating officials said the scam originated in the city of Nashik where the first digital copy of the question paper was leaked.
CBI has arrested Ayurvedic medical student Shubham Khairnar for his alleged involvement in the scam. Shubham, a resident of Nandgaon, Nashik, conspired with another person named Dhananjay from Pune to leak the question paper. Shubham allegedly bought the question paper from Dhananjay for Rs 10 lakh and later sold it to others for Rs 15 lakh through the Telegram app. After interrogating him, the investigating agency found that the leaked question papers were circulated from Maharashtra to Gurugram in Haryana, Jaipur and Sikar in Rajasthan as well as Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir for a hefty sum of money.
The CBI has arrested two brothers Mangilal and Dinesh Biwal from Rajasthan as part of the investigation. The two brothers, residents of Jamwa Ramgarh, bought the NEET question paper for Rs 30 lakh from a doctor in Gurugram on April 26, a week before the exam. Later, on April 29, they sold it to many others at a higher price. One of them was preparing for medical entrance exam in Sikar. Hence, the investigators suspect that Sikar area served as the main hub of the entire scam.
The NIT exam was conducted by the National Examinations Council on May 3 and around 2.3 million students appeared for the exam. However, Additional Director General Vishal Bansal revealed that, a month before the exam, some students received a set of 410 questions. After the examination, it was found that the 120 questions of Chemistry exactly matched the original question paper. Not only were the questions the same, but so were the answer options. Another source claimed that out of the 281 leaked questions, 135 matched those of the original exam.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal have also criticized the central government over the issue. As with the 2024 NET exam, the opposition has questioned the government’s role in selling question papers worth thousands of rupees across the country. The National Examination Board (NEB) announced the cancellation of the exam on May 3, within hours of the allegations of question paper leak. The CBI is currently investigating the incident and the students will now have to re-sit the exam.
