

PATNA: Nalanda hogged the limelight recently when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new campus of Nalanda University at Rajgir in presence of various dignitaries.
But the acclaimed knowledge hub has come into focus this time for wrong reasons. Nalanda is now being considered as an epicentre of the NEET paper leak scandal as Bihar Police`s Economic Offences Unit (EOU) pieces together the evidence against the accused.
The kingpin of the exam muddle, Sanjeev Kumar Singh alias Lutan Mukhiya, turned out to be a native of Nalanda district.
Now Mukhiya is on the radar of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which formally launched its investigation into NEET-UG question paper leak case.
The EOU provided all seized articles, including mobile phones, laptops, post dated cheques and reference question papers provided to EOU by NTA.
Sources said his original name is Sanjeev Singh but he is popularly known as Sanjeev Mukhiya’ after his wife Mamata Devi was elected as Mukhiya (chief of the Bhuthakhar Panchayat). His wife had also unsuccessfully contested the 2020 Bihar elections from Harnaut seat on the ticket of Lok Janshakti Party led by Chirag Paswan.
An EOU official said that Mukhiya first received the NEET question papers and answer sheets from an unknown 'professor' on his mobile before distributing it among NEET aspirants through his accomplices.
Sanjeev was involved in paper leak cases of many competitive exams for the last 20 years as he was also jailed. According to police records, Mukhiya, a close aide of education mafia Ranjit Don, has been responsible for leak of question paper at least for five examinations prior to the NEET paper leak.
Sanjeev’s son, Shiv Kumar, who did his MBBS from Patna Medical College and Hospital, is behind bars for alleged involvement in a Bihar teacher recruitment exam paper leak case. The father-son duo is allegedly part of the ‘Mukhiya Solver Gang’, a notorious group believed to be involved in exam frauds across the country.
Sanjeev ‘Mukhiya’, a resident of Nagarsauna in Nalanda district of Bihar, is a technical assistant at Nalanda College’s Noorsarai branch. Formerly employed at Sabour Agricultural College, Bhagalpur, he was transferred to Noorsarai after being implicated in similar paper leak scandal, leading to his arrest by Uttarakhand Police in 2016.
He has not been seen since May 6, 2024 when his name surfaced in connection with the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak. He is believed to have sneaked into Nepal to dodge the police. The police have to face legal problem in Mukhiya’s arrest due to transition treaty between the two countries.
Sanjeev Mukhiya denies his involvement in the alleged NEET paper leak. He has applied for anticipatory bail through his lawyer before a Patna district and sessions court on June 4 which deferred the hearing to July 4 last Friday.
Although Nalanda district happened to be native places of other paper leaks, Kumar Suman Singh aka Ranjeet Don was a crook unmatched so far. Even Mukhiya once worked for Ranjeet Don before he created his own gang.
Ranjeet Don, son of a small farmer, is a native of Lodhipur in Hilsa district in Nalanda district.
Ranjit was arrested from a hotel in New Delhi in 2003 by CBI after his involvement in leaking Common Admission Test (CAT) question papers came to light. He had taken Rs 10 lakh from each IIM aspirant to provide them papers before the examination.
He was also involved in committing irregularities in examinations held for admissions to medical colleges and also in bank PO examinations. He himself had ‘purchased’ his MBBS degree from Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital.
Presently, he is on bail and has also unsuccessfully contested elections to Bihar assembly and state legislative council.