NEET-UG 2024 question paper leak mastermind Sanjeev Mukhia arrested in Patna

Sanjeev Mukhia, the mastermind behind the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak was arrested on Friday by the economic offence unit (EOU) of Bihar police. Mukhia was also behind multiple paper leak cases.

Additional director general (ADG) EOU Nayyar Husnain Khan confirmed his arrest and told HT that his interrogation is underway.

Officials from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) were also present to question the accused.

Officials familiar with the matter said that Mukhia was hiding in an apartment located at Saguna More near Danapur police station.

EoU had earlier announced cash rewards for those providing information on people involved in the paper leak cases including NEET.

Also Read:Technical assistant, suspected kingpin: The man at the centre of NEET-UG paper leak probe

An EoU official said Bihar Police announced a cash reward between ₹1 lakh- ₹3 lakh for those assisting in the arrests of Mukhia, his nephew Shubham Kumar and associate Rajkishore Kumar Shah.

On March 5, the EoU posted a proclamation order at the house of Mukhia.

Both the CBI and EoU were unable to trace the whereabouts of Mukhia months after the filing of cases against him.

According to probe agencies, it was revealed that Mukhia’s gang operates across multiple states, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, and Rajasthan.

The gang is also believed to be responsible for previous paper leaks in recruitment exams for veterinary doctors and English teachers in Haryana, as well as other exams conducted in Uttar Pradesh.

Sanjeev and Shubham are natives of Nalanda while Rajkishore is a resident of Arwal.

“Shubham has spent time in jail in connection with Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) question paper leak case, now he is wanted in constable paper leak case. Similarly, Raj Kishore is wanted in the constable paper leak case while he is the person who used to collect money from the aspirants, provide monetary finance to the mafias as well as involved in money transfer to other syndicate members,” said Manavjeet Singh Dhillon, deputy inspector general of police (DIG), EoU.

Sanjeev has four cases registered against him while Shubham and Rajkishore have two criminal cases filed against them.

Mukhia, a suspended technical assistant at Noorsarai Horticulture College (Nalanda) is accused of orchestrating the leaks of several important examinations, including the BPSC teacher recruitment exam and constable recruitment exam.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also filed a case against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after uncovering assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

An ED investigation revealed that Sanjeev possessed 144% more assets than his legitimate income.