CRACKING THE CHEAT CODE

AS BIHAR'S PAPER LEAK INDUSTRY UNRAVELS, A DETERMINED CRACKDOWN BY THE ECONOMIC OFFENCES UNIT REVEALS ITS MASSIVE SCALE AND THE DAUNTING TASK OF REBUILDING TRUST IN PUBLIC EXAMS

- By Amitabh Srivastava

THE PREDAWN HUSH OF APRIL 25, A TEAM OF BIHAR POLICE’S Economic Offences Unit (EOU) converged on a rented flat in Patna’s Saguna More neighbourhood. Months of covert surveillance had led them to one of their most wanted targets: Sanjeev Kumar Mukhiya, the alleged mastermind behind a string of question paper leaks that have plagued public examinations in the state.

Mukhiya had gone underground after the medical entrance paper—National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET-UG—was leaked in May 2024, a scandal so brazen that the Supreme Court itself had stepped in to confirm the breach. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) eventually filed charges against more than 30 people, but Mukhiya managed to dodge multiple statewide manhunts—until that April morning.

Just a couple of weeks earlier, the EOU had arrested Ravi Bhushan, the alleged architect of a high-tech cheating racket in Patna’s online test centres. The two arrests spotlight a chilling reality: competitive exams in Bihar have been hijacked by a syndicate that commodifies ambition. In a state with a burgeoning population, one of India’s lowest per capita incomes and scant private sector opportunities, a government job is more than just employment—it’s a passport to stability and status. But, for a price, candidates can buy their way in. “These leaks are not isolated events,” says a senior EOU officer. “They’re part of a parallel economy, and every successful scam fuels the next.” This illicit enterprise is estimated to be worth at least Rs 500 crore, though the true scale may be far greater, with many paper leaks likely executed undetected.