The NEET-UG paper leak in Bihar has unveiled a complex network of exam scammers, with Sanjiv Mukhiya, an employee at Nalanda's Noorsarai Horticulture College, emerging as a key figure. Mukhiya, identified as a repeat offender, collaborated with various criminal elements, including the arrested leader of a UP "solver gang," Ravi Atri, who was implicated in a similar paper leak scandal for police constable recruitment in Meerut, reported TOI.
Mukhiya, who was employed as a technical assistant, took unofficial leave from May 6 to 14, citing hospitalization, shortly after the leak of the NEET-UG exam held on May 5. Following the revelation of his involvement, he went missing. According to TOI, officials at Noorsarai Horticulture College reported that Mukhiya did not show up for work on the exam day and has been absent without authorized leave since then. In response to a college notice on May 18, he claimed illness and requested extended leave until June 5.
"Mukhiya has been posted in the college for seven years. When we heard he was a suspect in the NEET-UG paper leak, we summoned him through another letter on June 20, but received no response," TOI quoted Pranay Kumar Pankaj, the college's office superintendent, as saying. An Economic Offences Unit (EOU) team subsequently visited the campus for investigation.
A senior EOU official revealed that Mukhiya had past associations with Ranjit Don, a notorious figure in several paper leaks from the 1990s to the early 2000s. After Ranjit transitioned to politics, Mukhiya established his own network, acting as a link between candidates' parents, middlemen, handlers, and the solver gang. The NEET-UG papers were allegedly leaked from a center in Hazaribagh, involving a school principal, center observer, and superintendent, all of whom are currently under investigation. Additionally, the franchisee of a courier company in Hazaribagh is being scrutinized.
In a recent development, a special CBI court in Patna remanded two arrested individuals, Baldev Kumar (alias Chintu) and Mukesh Kumar, linked to the Lutan Mukhia gang, to CBI custody for three days. The CBI registered an FIR in this case on June 23 following directives from the Union education ministry.
(With inputs from TOI)
Mukhiya, who was employed as a technical assistant, took unofficial leave from May 6 to 14, citing hospitalization, shortly after the leak of the NEET-UG exam held on May 5. Following the revelation of his involvement, he went missing. According to TOI, officials at Noorsarai Horticulture College reported that Mukhiya did not show up for work on the exam day and has been absent without authorized leave since then. In response to a college notice on May 18, he claimed illness and requested extended leave until June 5.
"Mukhiya has been posted in the college for seven years. When we heard he was a suspect in the NEET-UG paper leak, we summoned him through another letter on June 20, but received no response," TOI quoted Pranay Kumar Pankaj, the college's office superintendent, as saying. An Economic Offences Unit (EOU) team subsequently visited the campus for investigation.
A senior EOU official revealed that Mukhiya had past associations with Ranjit Don, a notorious figure in several paper leaks from the 1990s to the early 2000s. After Ranjit transitioned to politics, Mukhiya established his own network, acting as a link between candidates' parents, middlemen, handlers, and the solver gang. The NEET-UG papers were allegedly leaked from a center in Hazaribagh, involving a school principal, center observer, and superintendent, all of whom are currently under investigation. Additionally, the franchisee of a courier company in Hazaribagh is being scrutinized.
In a recent development, a special CBI court in Patna remanded two arrested individuals, Baldev Kumar (alias Chintu) and Mukesh Kumar, linked to the Lutan Mukhia gang, to CBI custody for three days. The CBI registered an FIR in this case on June 23 following directives from the Union education ministry.
(With inputs from TOI)
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