PATNA: Even as the NEET UG 2026 re-examination was conducted amid unprecedented security arrangements on Sunday, Bihar Police unearthed an impersonation racket in Lakhisarai district. A total of 28 individuals, including five medical students from Bihar, were held.
Additional Director General Sudhanshu Kumar confirmed that 18 staff members had been arrested for allegedly colluding with dummy candidates and middlemen by compromising the verification process at an exam centre in Lakhisarai.
In addition, nine candidates were detained at the exam centre after authorities suspected them of appearing in the exam on behalf of registered candidates. Mayank Kashyap, a fourth-year student at PMCH, was arrested after entering the Hasanpur examination centre in collusion with biometric staff member Ankit Kumar.
Based on Kashyap’s disclosures, police arrested Ravi Shankar, a student of Pavapuri Medical College in Rajgir, Nalanda, and Arpit Raj, a student of ANMMCH, Gaya. Arpit Raj is believed to be the mastermind behind the racket. The CBI had earlier questioned him in connection with the 2024 NEET paper leak case.
Those arrested include Saurabh Jha of AIIMS Rae Bareli; Aman Agarwal, an MBBS intern at the University College of Medical Sciences, Delhi; Mantosh Kumar of New Jalpaiguri Medical College; Vivek Kumar of ANMMCH; Himanshu Kumar of Government Medical College, Satna; Roshan Kumar, a B.Pharma student at NMCH, Patna; Chanchal Kumari, a BAMS student at Government Ayurvedic College, Odisha; Jitendra Kumar, an MBBS student at NMCH, Patna; and Poonam Kumari, a B.Sc. Nursing student at BHU.
According to police sources, Ravi Shankar and Arpit Raj allegedly recruited students from medical colleges as solvers to appear on behalf of registered candidates. Police said each candidate was to be charged Rs 10-12 lakh for impersonation. The gang had allegedly collected Rs 1-2 lakh in advance.
“We are probing bank accounts, mobile call records and digital transactions linked to the suspects,” a senior police officer monitoring the investigation said. The officer said more arrests were likely and didn’t rule out involvement of white-collar individuals.