PATNA, 27 JUNE

The CBI has made first arrests in the NEET-UG paper leak case, taking into custody two persons from Patna, officials said Thursday. Manish Kumar and Ashutosh Kumar allegedly provided safe premises to the aspirants before the examination where they were given leaked papers and answer keys, the officials said. The CBI has registered six FIRs in the NEET paper leak case.

The NEET-UG is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country. This year's examination was conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 abroad. Over 23 lakh candidates appeared for the test.

The first CBI FIR was registered on Sunday, a day after the ministry announced it would hand over the probe into the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the exam to the central agency. The demand for a CBI probe was raised by a section of protesting students.