CBI clean chit to 2024 NEET leak ‘kingpin’

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday said it did not find any evidence to establish the involvement of Sanjeev Kumar, alias Sanjeev Mukhiya, in the theft or distribution of the NEET-UG 2024 question paper.

The paper leak was exposed by the Bihar Police on May 5, 2024. During the investigation, the police suspected Mukhiya to be the kingpin in the case and subsequently named him in the FIR. Mukhiya was reportedly also involved in other cases of paper leaks.

He remained at large for a long time and was later arrested in connection with other cases. In the meantime, the CBI took over the NEET paper leak case and later got his custody.

In a statement, the agency said, “During the investigation, the CBI identified each and every person involved in the theft and onward distribution of the stolen question paper, as also each and every candidate who benefited from it. Multiple chargesheets were filed against 45 persons before the jurisdictional court in Patna. The CBI did not come across any evidence to establish the involvement of Sanjeev Kumar, alias Sanjeev Mukhiya, in the case.”

It said that since no evidence was found against Mukhiya, it did not file a chargesheet against him. He subsequently got bail. “Mukhiya remained in judicial custody after getting bail in the CBI case, as he is an accused in certain other cases being investigated by the Bihar Police,” it said.

Mukhiya was earlier employed as a technical assistant at Nalanda College’s Noorsarai branch. He has been linked to multiple paper leak cases, including the 2016 Bihar Police constable recruitment examination leak. He was also associated with Ranjit Don, alias Kumar Suman Singh, who is accused in several competitive examination and admission scams. Mukhiya first came into national focus in 2003 when he was arrested by the CBI for allegedly leaking question papers for the Common Admission Test (CAT) and medical entrance examinations.