'Munna Bhai MBBS'-style cheating in NEET re-test: Bihar Police bust proxy exam gang, 24 arrested

A large-scale impersonation racket allegedly designed to help candidates cheat in the NEET-UG retest has been uncovered in Bihar's Lakhisarai district, leading to the arrest of 24 people, including medical students and employees linked to the examination process.

Police say the network arranged "solvers" to take the highly competitive medical entrance examination on behalf of registered candidates, raising fresh concerns about the integrity of the testing system even after last year's paper leak controversy.

More than 20 lakh aspirants appeared for the NEET-UG retest on Sunday after the original examination was scrapped following the paper leak row.

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Medical students among key accused

Investigators believe medical student Arpit Raj, a student of ANM Medical College and Hospital in Gaya, was one of the masterminds behind the alleged operation.

Raj had earlier been questioned by the CBI in connection with the 2024 NEET paper leak case.

Another accused, Mayank Kashyap, a third-year MBBS student at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), was also arrested during the investigation.

Police have additionally arrested 14 employees of the biometric company involved in the examination process.

How the alleged network was uncovered

The investigation began after Mayank Kashyap allegedly entered the Hasanpur High School examination centre posing as a biometric company employee.

He was the first person detained in the case, prompting police to carry out raids at KRK Higher Secondary School and Kendriya Vidyalaya in Lakhisarai.

During the raids, officers arrested seven candidates and several others believed to be connected to the operation.

According to investigators, the gang had allegedly planned to exploit insider access and replace genuine candidates with trained solvers.

Nursing and medical students arrested

The probe has revealed the alleged involvement of students from medical and nursing institutions across the country.

Banaras Hindu University nursing student Poonam Kumari was allegedly caught appearing in the examination by posing as another candidate.

AIIMS Rae Bareli student Saurabh Jha was also arrested.

Among those held was Aman Agarwal, an intern at Shahdara Medical College in Delhi. Nalanda Medical College and Hospital nursing student Sanjeet and his brother were also arrested.

Questions over monitoring measures

The arrests have raised questions about how some medical students allegedly managed to leave their campuses despite restrictions imposed during the NEET examination period.

Medical colleges had instructed students not to leave campus while the examination was being conducted. Institutions, including PMCH, organised seminars and quizzes as part of monitoring measures.

However, some students were reportedly absent from these activities.

Police said Mayank Kashyap had left his college after citing illness and was later arrested in Lakhisarai.

Investigation continues

Bihar Police are now trying to establish the full extent of the alleged network, identify other people who may have been involved and determine whether any additional attempts were made to manipulate the NEET-UG retest process.

The case has once again put the spotlight on examination security and the challenges authorities face in preventing organised cheating networks from infiltrating competitive entrance tests.