A fresh controversy has erupted around the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2025 exam after Bihar Police arrested two individuals for allegedly orchestrating a large-scale impersonation scam.
Among those nabbed is Dr Ranjeet Kumar, a government-employed MBBS doctor currently posted at the Begusarai divisional jail. His alleged accomplice, Rambabu Malik, is a resident of Darbhanga.
According to a report by The New Indian Express, the two were arrested late on Sunday, May 4, after police teams, acting on specific intelligence, noticed a suspicious vehicle making rounds near several NEET exam centres in Samastipur. The car was located near Mohanpur bridge, and the duo was detained for questioning shortly before midnight.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) launched an inquiry and recovered three mobile phones, Rs 50,000 in cash, and multiple documents, including fake NEET admit cards, Aadhaar cards, and digital files containing photographs and signatures of several candidates.
During interrogation, the accused reportedly admitted to running a proxy operation that allowed NEET aspirants to pay between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 5 lakh to have someone else appear for the exam on their behalf using counterfeit documents.
Police believe the impersonations may have occurred across multiple exam centres, primarily in Samastipur.
Town Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sanjay Pandey told The Times of India, “We are verifying which exam centres in Samastipur were affected. The cellphone recovered from the doctor contained several admit cards, which we are matching with those who sat the exam. A special police team has been formed to pursue further leads.”
Speaking to The Indian Express, Pandey added, “Based on the details disclosed during questioning (of the accused) and the evidence found on their phones, we are investigating the suspected genuine and proxy candidates. Only after questioning them will we be able to ascertain how many proxy candidates appeared in the exam, if any.”
The incident has prompted investigators to examine whether the racket has any connection to Sanjeev Mukhiya, the alleged mastermind behind the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak, who was arrested last month by Bihar’s Economic Offences Unit (EOU).
In a separate but related case, Patna police arrested SK Faiz from Araria district on May 3 for allegedly scamming aspirants by promising them advance access to the NEET-UG 2025 question paper in exchange for money.
Acting on a tip-off, EOU and local police traced Faiz and found that he had received multiple payments from students under false pretences.
An official EOU statement confirmed the arrest and ongoing investigation into the money trail, which allegedly involved defrauding several NEET hopefuls.
As the probe continues, police are working to verify the identities of students whose details were found on the seized devices and determine the extent of the fraud across Bihar and possibly beyond.
