Nashik police detain 27-year-old man in NEET-UG paper leak case

Nashik: The Nashik city police on Tuesday detained a 27-year-old man from Nandgaon in the district, who was living in the Indiranagar area, in connection with the NEET-UG question paper leak that led to the cancellation of the examination held on May 3.Confirming the development, deputy commissioner of police Kirankumar Chavan said the Nashik police acted on a request received from the Rajasthan police. "Today morning, we received a request from the Rajasthan police to take a person from Nashik into custody. Based on the details shared with us, we traced and detained him. He will be handed over when the Rajasthan police team arrives in Nashik," the DCP said.According to Chavan, the accused had allegedly altered his appearance, making it difficult to track him. "The responsibility of locating him was assigned to Crime Branch Unit 2, which eventually traced and detained him," the DCP said, adding, "At present, we do not have any more information related to the case."Sources in the Nashik city police, however, said the accused allegedly received a courier from an unknown person and forwarded it to someone in Gurugram (Haryana). No further details are currently available with the Nashik city police.The sources said the accused was a third-year BAMS student studying in Sehore (MP). "During his time in Nashik, he also worked as a career counsellor," a source said, adding that the accused was preparing to leave the city on the pretext of going on a holiday when the police detained him.NEET aspirants express anger & frustrationThe cancellation of the examinations has sparked anger and frustration among students. "Why do officials repeatedly compromise key exams and allow question papers to be leaked? It is shocking that almost every major entrance or recruitment test ends up being leaked. This cannot be the work of an insider alone," NEET candidate Arti Chavan said.Another aspirant, Akshay Jain, said the prospect of a re-test was emotionally draining for students. "A re-test means losing our vacation after a hectic year of preparation. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure a fair chance for genuine and deserving students," he said.Coaching institutes have already begun preparing for the re-exam. "We will call our students back and support them fully to ensure they are well prepared for the re-test," a teacher from a NEET coaching centre said.