On 20 June 2024, Bihar Deputy CM Vijay Sinha made shocking revelations linking former Deputy CM and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s name with the NEET-UG paper leak case. In a press conference, Sinha stated that Sikandar Kumar Yadavendu, an accused in the NEET UG paper leak case, was provided with a room in a government guest house at the request of Pritam Kumar, the personal secretary of Tejashwi Yadav. Sikandar Yadavendu along with 3 others have been arrested in the case.
#WATCH | Patna: On NEET issue, Bihar Deputy CM Vijay Sinha says, "On May 1, Tejashwi Yadav's personal secretary Pritam Kumar called guesthouse worker Pradip Kumar to book a room for Sikander Kumar Yadavendu… On May 4, Pritam Kumar called Pradip Kumar again for booking the… pic.twitter.com/nG7UAFJTs7
— ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2024
In a presser, Vijay Sinha said that Pritam Kumar had called Pradip Kumar, an employee at the guesthouse, at 9 pm on May 1, to book a room for Sikandar Kumar Yadavendu at the NHAI guest house. Pradip Kumar didn’t make any booking on that day. On May 4, he got another call to book a room for Sikandar Kumar Yadavendu. Pradip Kumar made the reservation by sending a WhatsApp message to the concerned person.
Sinha said that the word ‘Mantri Ji’ was used for Tejashwi Yadav. He further added that Sikandar Yadavendu, then a JE in the Irrigation Department, used to be at Lalu Yadav’s service when the RJD chief was jailed in Ranchi. He has stated that the RJD should clarify who Pritam Kumar is and is he still linked to Tejashwi Yadav.
Vijay Sinha said, “Sikandar Yadvendu is a close relative of Tejashwi Yadav’s PS Pritam Kumar. An NHAI guest house was booked for Sikandar’s sister Reena Yadav and son Anurag Yadav on May 4. A phone number and ‘Mantri Ji’ were mentioned in the NHAI guest house’s diary. The investigating agency is trying to identify this ‘Mantri Ji'”.
Sinha, who is also the minister of road construction, has ordered an inquiry into the booking of the NHAI guest house. “I am conducting a thorough investigation in my department to identify officers or employees working at the behest of Tejashwi Yadav. The entire RJD system is based on crime and corruption,” he said.
However, the NHAI said that it does not operate any guesthouse in Patna. It posted a Factcheck tweet on X saying, “Some sections of the media have reported that accused related to NEET paper leak case stayed at #NHAI guest house in Patna. NHAI clarifies that it does not have any guest house facility in Patna.”
#FactCheck: Some sections of the media have reported that accused related to NEET paper leak case stayed at #NHAI guest house in Patna. NHAI clarifies that it does not have any guest house facility in Patna.
— NHAI (@NHAI_Official) June 19, 2024
It is notable here that Sikandar Kumar Yadavendu is an accused in the Bihar NEET-UG paper leak case. His nephew Anurag Yadav has been arrested by Bihar police in the case. Anurag Yadav has admitted in a written confession that he and several other candidates were shown the NEET question paper in a hotel room and were asked to memorise the question paper and answers. In the NEET exam, the question paper was exactly the same as the one he was shown earlier, he claimed.
Anurag Yadav’s mother Reena Yadav was arrested from the guest house on 5 May, the day of the exam and an OMR sheet was recovered. Anurag’s name and the word ‘Mantri Ji’ were written on the register of the guest house.
Sikandar Kumar Yadavendu was previously implicated in a Rs 3 crore LED scam and served a prison sentence. Earlier he was a contractor and later became a junior engineer in 2012.
Four persons have been arrested in Bihar in connection to the NEET UG paper case so far, Anurag Yadav, Nitish Kumar, Amit Anand and Sikandar Yadavendu. Amit Anand is the alleged mastermind in the case, who has also confessed to the crime. He had approached Sikandar claiming that he could leak papers of any competitive exam, and Sikandar had asked him for papers of NEET UG saying he has 4 candidates. Amit Kumar quoted the price of ₹30-32 lakh for each aspirant for NEET papers.
On Amit’s instructions, Sikandar brought 4 candidates to the hotel room, where they were given the paper to memorise.
The latest developments in the NEET UG case after NTA and union education minister denying any paper leak in the exam. They had said that after the cancellation of the grace marks given to candidates for loss of time, the controversy was over, and the allegations of the paper leak were false. But the arrest of several persons from multiple states including Bihar and UP, and now the confession of the arrested persons, suggests that the assurance of no paper leak was premature.
