A special court in Patna on Wednesday, July 17 sent the key accused in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduates (NEET-UG) paper-leak case, who allegedly stole the exam paper from a trunk of the National Testing Agency (NTA) in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI's) custody for 14 days, officials said.

Giving more details, the officials said that during its custody of accused Pankaj Kumar alias Aditya till July 30, the CBI is likely to question him on his alleged role, his linkages with other gang members, the payments received and his local contacts who were involved in the entire theft process, PTI reported.

It is reported that Kumar, a resident of Bokaro, was arrested from Patna. The agency also arrested Singh from Hazaribagh for allegedly helping Kumar steal the paper, they added. Singh was arrested after detailed questioning, the officials said, adding that the agency has "temporarily sealed" the Raj Guest House in Hazaribagh in connection with the case.

Additionally Hazaribagh Jamaluddin Ansari, a journalist with a Hindi newspaper, the Oasis school's principal, Ehsanul Haque, and vice-principal Imtiaz Alam were also arrested. Haque and Alam were reportedly designated as coordinators by the NTA in the district, as reported by PTI.

Bihar police

The Economic Offences Wing (EOU) of the Bihar Police had earlier said the leaked question paper of the NEET-UG was allegedly obtained from the Oasis school in Hazaribagh by the notorious Sanjeev Kumar alias Lutan Mukhiya solver gang. It had said the investigators had matched a partially-burnt question paper found from a Patna safe house with a reference question paper provided by the NTA, confirming the leak's origin.

However, it could not clearly establish who was behind the alleged paper leak, the officials remarked.

In interviews with the media, Haque has maintained that the box carrying the question papers could not be opened due to its digital lock, which was supposed to unlock automatically, malfunctioned. Following this, he contacted the NTA, which asked him to use a cutter to open the box, he has said.

The CBI, which is probing the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam, has lodged six FIRs. The FIR from Bihar pertains to paper leak while the remaining ones from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra are regarding impersonation of candidates and cheating.