A post with photos of three Muslim men arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) (NEET-UG) paper leak scandal is being shared with a false and communal claim insinuating that the investigative agency has arrested only Muslim accused in the case.
BOOM found that while the three men in the photos have been arrested by the CBI, several other accused individuals who are Hindus have also been arrested.
The CBI is currently investigating alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG exam, conducted on May 5, 2024. This nationwide entrance test, is administered by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The CBI has arrested multiple individuals for their alleged involvement in the case. The allegations against the NTA include accusations of paper leaks and a controversy over grace marks awarded to over 1,000 students from six centres due to a delayed start, which were later canceled following a court order.
The viral graphic is being shared on Facebook with the caption, "In NEET-UG paper leak case, arrests made by CBI so far: -Md Jamaluddin who was working for Prabhat Khabar -Dr Ehsanul Haq, Principal Oasis school -Imtiaz Alam, Vice Principal Oasis school Exam Jihad ??"
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the men in the viral photo have been arrested by the CBI in relation to the NEET-UG paper leak scam, however the investigative agency has also arrested several Hindu accused in the case.
We ran a keyword search with the "NEET-UG paper leak scam" and found several news reports which had details of all the accused arrested by the CBI, these reports had names of several Hindu accused in the case which the viral graphic does not mention in order to bolster the misleading claim.
The three Muslim accused were arrested by the CBI are - Ehsanul Haque, the principal of Oasis School in Jharkhand, along with his vice-principal, Imtiaz Alam, who also served as the Hazaribagh district coordinator for NEET-UG appointed by NTA. Investigators suspect that the leak originated from their school. CBI also arrested Jamaluddin a journalist in Hazaribagh on June 29, in connection with the NEET paper-leak case. He is accused of assisting the principal and vice-principal of Oasis School in the paper leak.
However except these three Muslim accused the rest of the accused in the case arrested are mostly Hindus. The Indian Express reported on July 1, 2024, with the list of accused arrested in the case by CBI.
The list names includes - Sanjeev Mukhiya, Baldev Kumar, Nitish Kumar, Amit Anand, Manish Prakash, Ashutosh Kumar, Roshan Kumar, Awadhesh Kumar, Sikander Yadavendu, Mukesh Kumar, Panku Kumar, Paramjit Singh, Rajiv Kumar, Ehsanul Haque, Imtiaz Alam, Mohd Jamaludin, Purshottam Sharma, Tushar Bhatt, Arif Vohra, Parshuram Roy, Vibhor Anand Umeshwar Prasad Singh.
In the list reported below, there are several Hindu accused that the viral graphic omits and only shares photos of there Muslim accused.
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BOOM has debunked misinformation surrounding the NEET paper leak case. Posts featuring a Malayalam newspaper advertisement of students and their NEET scores were shared online with the false and communal claim that Muslim NEET aspirants were the main beneficiaries of the question paper leak fiasco.
