The Economic Offence Unit (EOU) of Bihar police yesterday said that the NEET-UG examination paper was leaked by a professional interstate organised gang from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand.

The EOU said 13 members of this organised gang have been arrested by SIT, which is investigating the case.

In a press statement issued yesterday, the EOU said the paper leak case occurred due to tampering with the standard operating procedure (SOP) of transportation, storage, handover, and takeover laid out by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The EOU said SOP was not followed at the examination centre in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, which led to the question paper leak.

The investigation agency said that from the analysis, the SIT has found that the question that reached Patna before the date of the entrance examination originally belonged to the examination centre of Oasis School, Kallu Chowk, in Mandai Road, Hazaribag.

The EOU said the two kingpins of the paper leak case have been arrested. One of the masterminds, Baldev Kumar, alias Chintu, was arrested yesterday in Deoghar, Jharkhand.

The SIT has also interrogated four NEET aspirants, who are among the 15 suspected candidates in the case. The EOU also said that out of six arrested people from Deoghar, two were innocent.

The EOU said the case will now be handed over to the CBI for further investigation.