Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha alleged on Thursday that an aide of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav was connected to the alleged paper leaks and malpractices in the NEET-UG 2024 examination. Sinha claimed that Tejashwi Yadav’s aide, Preetam Kumar, had called an employee of the Bihar Road Construction Department (RCD) to arrange a room for Sikandar Prasad Yadavendu, an engineer who had previously disclosed the alleged involvement of a ‘Mantri Ji’ in the exam row.
According to Sinha, Sikandar Prasad Yadavendu had recommended accommodation for his nephew Anurag Yadav, a NEET aspirant, his mother, and others at a government bungalow in Patna. Anurag Yadav is currently in custody in connection with the exam irregularities.
Sinha stated that he conducted a departmental inquiry and discovered that Preetam Kumar had called RCD staffer Pradeep to book a room at the guest house of Bihar NHAI on May 1, four days before the examination.
“I demand a high-level inquiry into this matter. They are out of power, but want to play with the future of lakhs of candidates,” Sinha said.
He added that he had suspended three RCD employees, including Pradeep, regarding the room booking.
However, the Bihar NHAI denied the reports of the accused staying at their guest house, stating that they “do not have any guest house facility in Patna.”
“Some sections of the press have reported that the accused related to the NEET paper leak case stayed at NHAI guest house in Patna. NHAI would like to clarify that NHAI does not have any guest house facility in Patna,” the statement read.
In his confession letter, Sikandar Prasad Yadavendu mentioned that his nephew informed him about achieving the desired results “as promised earlier.” He also stated that he was in contact with a racket that specialized in leaking question papers for NEET, UPSC, and other exams.
Yadavendu admitted to making logistical arrangements for other candidates, including Ayush Raj, Shivanandan Kumar, Abhishek Kumar, Anurag Yadav, and Anurag’s mother Reena.
Anurag Yadav also confessed in his letter that the leaked question paper provided to him matched the actual exam question paper.
