According to officials cited by a news agency, the Maharashtra government decided on Thursday to transfer the investigation of all issues concerning the NEET case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The CBI has made first arrests in the NEET-UG paper leak case, taking into custody two persons from Patna, officials said Thursday.
The suspects identified as Manish Kumar and Ashutosh Kumar allegedly provided safe premises to the aspirants before the examination where they were given leaked papers and answer keys, the officials said.
The CBI has registered six FIRs in the NEET paper leak case.
The NEET-UG is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
Meanwhile, the Opposition members staged a protest on the premises of the Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan as the monsoon ses sion of the Maharashtra leg- islature commenced in Mumbai on Thursday.
The protesters, belonging to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (SP), raised slogans against the government over the issues related to farmers and the NEET exam.
Several allegations of irregularities have been made in the medical entrance examination, the National Eligibility-cum- Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET, conducted by the National Testing Agency in May.
Sitting on the state legisla- ture complex’s stairs, the opposition members in Maharashtra raised slogans holding placards in their hands.
The first CBI FIR was reg- istered on Sunday, a day after the ministry announced it would hand over the probe into the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the exam to the central agency.
This year’s examination was conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 abroad. Over 23 lakh candidates appeared for the test, the news agency reported on Thursday.
The demand for a CBI probe was raised by a section of protesting students.