Misleading Claim Of 'Only Muslims Arrested' in NEET Paper Scam Goes Viral

These three were indeed arrested linked to NEET-UG paper leak scam but the police also arrested Hindus.

Fact-check: A misleading claim about only Muslims being arrested in the NEET (UG) Paper leak scam is going viral online.

(Photo: The Quint)

A set of three images are going viral online to claim that these three Muslim men were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in relation to the NEET-UG paper leak scam.

Users sharing this claim are adding "exam jihad" term around it.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot) 

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

What's the truth?: The CBI has indeed arrested these three mentioned in the claim but they have also arrested Hindus in relation to this case.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a relevant keyword search on Google using 'accused arrested in NEET UG paper leak scam' and this led us to several news reports.

Reports by The Indian Express, Times of India and The Hindu stated that the CBI has arrested several people in the case, here's the list:

• On 28 June, Ehsanul Haque, the principal of Jharkhand's Oasis School was arrested

• Along with his vice-principal Imtiaz Alam, also the Hazaribagh district coordinator for NEET-UG designated by the National Testing Agency (NTA)

• Jamaluddin Ansari, a journalist, who works with a Hindi newspaper in the state

• Dixit Patel, owner of Jay Jalaram School in Godhra, Gujarat who Patel allegedly demanded Rs 10 lakh to help candidates clear the exam

• According to the officials, a special CBI court in Godhra granted the probe agency four-day custody of Jay Jalaram School’s principal Purushottam Sharma, teacher Tushar Bhatt, and middlemen Vibhor Anand and Arif Vohra

• Sanjeev Kumar, a Nalanda resident

• Baldev Kumar alias Chintu, a resident of Bihar Sharif, is suspected to be Sanjeev’s key aide

• Baldev is accused of forwarding the PDF to two middlemen, Nitish Kumar and Amit Anand, both living in Patna at present

• Manish Prakash and Ashutosh Kumar, Patna residents

• Roshan Kumar, Awadhesh Kumar, Sikander Yadavendu and 8 others

• Mukesh Kumar is accused of ferrying four of the accused in his car from one location to another

• Panku Kumar, Paramjit Singh alias Bittu and Rajiv Kumar alias Karu, all residents of Nalanda district, are accused of providing the gang members with fake mobile SIM cards to facilitate the paper leak

• Parshuram Roy, the owner of Vadodara-based education immigration company, Roy Overseas

The list of arrested accused in this case clearly indicate this is not just limited to Muslims but it also involves people from other communities.

Conclusion: A misleading claim about only Muslims being arrested in the NEET (UG) Paper leak scam is going viral online.

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