22 June,2024 04:15 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
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A man was questioned in connection with the UGC-NET paper leak case by the CBI in Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar, reported PTI on Saturday.
The suspect allegedly posted a portion of the paper on instant messaging service Telegram.
As per the PTI report, he was taken to Padrauna Kotwali in the district where he is being questioned by the team of CBI anti-corruption branch, officials said.
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It is understood that the suspect had undertaken coaching for the examination in Kota, Rajasthan, reported PTI citing officials.
On Thursday, an FIR was registered against unidentified people on a reference from the Union education ministry by the CBI in connection with the case.
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 (UGC) 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.
Meanwhile, opposition leaders on Thursday launched an attack on the National Testing Agency (NTA) after the UGC-NET exam was cancelled and accused the agency as well as the Union government of destroying the future of students who appeared for these exams.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saket Gokhale said the examination process in the country has crashed and the lives of students are being destroyed. He accused the NTA of being complicit.
"The examination process structure of our country has crashed. Paper leaks and irregularities are rampant and the useless NTA is complicit in it," Gokhale said in a post on X.
"After the NEET fiasco, the UGC-NET has now been cancelled - literally 1 day after students wrote the exam. The lives and futures of our students are being destroyed everyday and the NDA 1.0 govt is shameless to even take responsibility," he said.
The TMC MP said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not learnt any lesson from the elections, and demanded that Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan and Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw both be sacked.
"Incompetent education minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been repeated again despite being an utter failure. The same is with Ashwini Vaishnaw as railway minister & now we saw a train crash just days ago. They need to be sacked," he said.
"Modi clearly hasn't learnt any lesson from his humiliation in the elections," he added.
