Thiruvananthapuram, May 13 (IANS) The widening investigation into the NEET question paper leak has now cast a shadow over Kerala, with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the possible involvement of students from two districts in the state.

Investigators suspect that a ‘model question paper’, allegedly prepared from the leaked original NEET paper, had reached several students in Kerala days before the examination.

The Kerala connection surfaced after the Rajasthan Police handed over details of nearly 200 students believed to have accessed the leaked paper.

Among them are students linked to Kerala, while investigators are also probing the role of a medical student from Churu, Rajasthan, currently studying in the state.

Officials suspect he acted as a key link in circulating the paper among aspirants in Kerala.

The CBI has now widened its investigation to 10 states and formed a special investigation team, deploying four separate squads to track the network behind what is emerging as one of the biggest entrance exam frauds in recent years.

Preliminary findings suggest the leak originated not during transportation of question papers, as seen in earlier scams, but directly from the printing press in Nashik, Maharashtra, where this year’s NEET paper was printed.

Investigators allege that a medical student named Shubham Karniyar secured the original paper from the press and passed it through intermediaries in Haryana.

From there, it allegedly reached the masterminds operating from Sikar.

To avoid suspicion, the original leaked paper was reportedly modified into the form of a “model question paper” before being circulated through networks in states, including Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. Investigators found that 90 Biology questions and 35 out of 45 Chemistry questions in the model paper matched the actual exam paper.

The papers were allegedly sold through platforms such as Telegram and WhatsApp for amounts ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 2 lakh, exposing what officials describe as a highly organised interstate examination racket.

–IANS

sg/dpb