A CBI team probing alleged irregularities in the conduct of the UGC-NET examination was allegedly attacked by locals in Bihar's Nawada after which four persons were arrested by police on a complaint from the central agency, officials said Sunday.

The incident occurred on Saturday evening when a team of CBI had gone to Kasiadeeh village in the area, they said.

A mob gathered around the CBI vehicles and heckled the officers, they said, adding a call was made to the local police station which dispatched force from Rajauli police station.

An FIR was filed by the local police against the accused on charges of causing disruption in government work and assault, among others.

The local police arrested four persons allegedly involved in the attack and they have been sent to judicial custody, they said.

The CBI had registered an FIR into the UGC-NET paper leak case on Thursday against unidentified people on a reference from the Union education ministry.

The UGC-NET-2024 exam for the selection of junior research fellows, assistant professors and PhD scholars was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on June 18 in two shifts across the country.

The next day, the University Grants Commission received inputs from the National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (l4C) that the paper was available on the darknet and allegedly being sold for Rs 5-6 lakh on messaging platforms, sources said.

According to the complaint from the education ministry, the inputs from I4C, which functions under the Union home ministry, "prima-facie indicate that the integrity of the examination may have been compromised", officials said.