Patna, June 27 : A special CBI court in Patna on Wednesday sent two persons accused of leaking NEET-UG question paper to three-day CBI custody.

The two alleged 'exam mafias' -- Mukesh Kumar and Chintu -- are facing charges of leaking the question paper for NEET-UG conducted on May 5.

During the investigation conducted by the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the Bihar Police, it was found that Chintu received the question paper on his mobile phone.

The CBI is now expected to grill Chintu and Mukesh to find out how they procured the question paper in advance and how many aspirants were made to memorise the answers before the entrance test was held on May 5.

EOU probe has revealed that Chintu is married to the sister of Sanjeev Mukhiya, one of the main accused in the case.

The police have recovered 20 ATM cards, 21 blank cheques, and Rs 50,000 in cash from Chintu's possession.

Nearly 24 lakh students appeared for the NEET-UG 2024 for undergraduate medical programmes on May 5. The results were released ahead of schedule on June 4. However, controversy arose with claims of question paper leak and the awarding of grace marks to more than 1,500 students, leading to widespread protests and legal actions, including cases filed in various courts, notably the Supreme Court, which strongly criticised the National Testing Agency's handling of the matter.

/IANS