CBI Court Denies Bail To Accused In NEET-UG Bribery Scam Involving OMR Manipulation, NTA Links

Mumbai: The special CBI court has refused to grant anticipatory bail to Bihar resident Niraj Kumar, 34, who was booked as part of a gang that sought bribe amounts of up to Rs90 lakh to manipulate the NEETUG scores for admission to government medical colleges.

The CBI had also alleged involvement of government officers from the National Testing Agency (NTA) department. The agency claimed that Kumar was at a five-star hotel and met a few gullible parents. The room was booked in his name by the parents of the candidates. The probe indicated ample evidence against Kumar.

As per the probe, Kumar was the one who took the students to the room, where they put their signatures on the optical marks recognition (OMR) sheets, with which the original was to be replaced. Though the marks of the candidates were not increased, amounts of Rs32.50 lakh and Rs85 lakh were transferred from the parents to the accused.

The court noted that though nothing is to be seized from Kumar, his custodial interrogation is necessary to unearth various aspects of the crime as he dealt with the students. He is also a close aide of prime accused Rajeev Sinha, to whom details of 15 candidates were sent on WhatsApp. The CBI claimed Sinha is absconding and is said to be in Thailand. The court hence refused to grant anticipatory bail to Kumar.