The Economic Offences Unit of the Bihar Police in India arrested 5 more suspects in the NEET paper leak case on Sunday. This increases the total number of people detained in the case to 18. This development followed the filing of a First Information Report by the Central Bureau of Investigation, concerning the controversy around the National Eligibility cum- Entrance Test (NEET), which has resulted in protests all across the country.

NEET is a nationwide competitive exam that is required for the entrance of students into all medical colleges in India. It takes place once a year. It is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) and was administered to approximately 2.4 million students on May 5 this year. On the release of results, controversy broke out as accusations of rank inflation and unfair practices were levied against NTA – in this year’s NEET, 67 students scored a perfect score, an unusually high number given how previous years have witnessed very few students achieving this feat. While other allegations of cheating have also been made, speculations about the question paper being leaked before the exam have gained traction. Due to the high scores, the grade boundaries required for entrance to medical colleges have increased.

NTA justified the scores as occurring due to an “easy paper”, along with a very high number of candidates appearing for the exam. Further, 1,563 students were granted compensatory marks due to technical difficulties at exam centres which reduced the amount of time available to finish the exam.

Further controversy arose after it was revealed that six of the students who achieved perfect scores took the exam at the same examination centre and students who had previously not scored high in preliminary exams suddenly achieved very high scores. As a result of these developments, several candidates have requested both an investigation as well as a re-examination.

In response, the NTA put together a panel to investigate claims of a paper leak, with the Director General of NTA, Subodh Kumar, stating that “question papers were shared on social media around 4.30 pm, two hours after the exam had started. We denied reports on May 6 that the paper had been leaked. The integrity of examination was not compromised at all.”

The accused, all from the region of Nalanda in Bihar, allegedly procured the solved exam paper on May 4 and distributed it to students on the same day. The NTA confirmed that authorities had been able to confirm the origin of the leaked question paper. Previously, the Economic Offences Unit apprehended 13 people suspected of orchestrating the paper leak