UGC-NET exam row: CBI questions suspect in UP in connection with paper leak

The CBI on Saturday questioned a man in Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar in connection with the UGC-NET paper leak case, officials said.

The suspect, who allegedly posted a portion of the paper on instant messaging service Telegram, was taken to Padrauna Kotwali in the district where he is being questioned by the team of CBI anti-corruption branch, they said.

It is understood that the suspect had undertaken coaching for the examination in Kota, Rajasthan, they said.

The CBI had registered an FIR into the UGC-NET paper leak case on Thursday against unidentified people on a reference from the Union education ministry.

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 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.