The CBI on Thursday arrested Rakesh Ranjan alias Rocky, who is believed to be one of the kingpins in the alleged paper leak case in the NEET-UG held on May 5.

Sources said Rocky, who had been on the run ever since the crackdown on irregularities in the medical entrance exam began, was arrested from Patna. A CBI official said the accused hails from Nalanda and is said to be a relative of “mastermind” Sanjeev Mukhia.

The agency produced Rocky before a special court in Patna which remanded him in 10 days’ CBI custody.

The CBI on Thursday also raided four locations — two each in Patna and Calcutta — in connection with the ongoing probe in the case.

“The accused Rakesh Ranjan alias Rocky, who hails from Nalanda and is said to be a relative of mastermind Sanjeev Mukhia, was arrested from the outskirts of Patna. The CBI had been trailing him since the agency took over the probe. With the help of technical surveillance, the CBI found his exact location and arrested him in the early morning,” a CBI official said.

Mukhia is suspected to have fled to Nepal.

The agency had earlier arrested the principal and vice-principal of Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh-based Oasis school in the case and two persons who allegedly lent premises to NEET candidates where burnt question papers were recovered by the Bihar police.

The CBI is probing the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam, following a reference from the education ministry. The Centre — which initially dismissed the possibility of a paper leak — had later announced that the probe into the alleged irregularities would be handed over to the CBI, amid countrywide protests and litigation by students for a fair probe.

The NEET was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities with over 23 lakh candidates appearing for the examination.

The Centre had removed the NTA’s head and named a seven-member panel for
exam reforms.

The Centre has also formed a seven-member panel chaired by former Isro head K. Radhakrishnan to recommend reforms in exam mechanisms and processes, improvements in data security protocols, and changes to the NTA’s structure and functions.