Officials had to use a cutter to unlock the digital lock on the box containing question papers at the school under the NEET “leak” scanner

Less than an hour before the exam was scheduled to start on May 5, a panicked call from the Hazaribagh school was placed to the National Testing Agency

The Indian Express was informed by the principal of the Hazaribagh institution, where investigators believe the NEET-UG leak started, that they had to use a cutter since a computerized lock on two boxes carrying question papers did not open at the scheduled time of 1.15 pm on May 5.

The boxes have two locks, one manual and the other digital, according to the officials. The former requires a key and cutter to open, while the latter should unlock on its own forty-five minutes prior to the test. This did not occur at Hazaribagh’s Oasis School.

“Cutter se digital lock ko kaat do (cut the digital lock with the cutter)” was the response Ehsanul Haque received when he called the National Testing Agency, the organization that had selected him as the Hazaribagh district coordinator and school principal. The superintendents and observers at five exam centers, including Oasis School, where the digital lock had not opened, were informed of this, according to Haque, who spoke with The Indian Express.

This was affirmed by NTA observer Vishwa Ranjan and Oasis School’s center superintendent, Imtiyaz Alam.

The previous NEET-UG tests also featured digital locks, and when they were open, a beep was heard. We were taken aback when they failed to unlock this year. We informed our city coordinator, Ehsanul Haque, who in turn notified the NTA, who advised us to use a cutter to cut it,” stated Ranjan.

NTA representatives state that if the digital lock doesn’t automatically open at the predetermined time, it is customary to use a cutter to break the lock open. These are electronic gadgets that are prone to malfunction. It’s not a guarantee that items were altered, according to an NTA representative.

Haque gave The Indian Express an explanation of the procedure, saying, “I got an email at one in the morning on May 5 telling me about nine boxes with question papers housed at two selected banks. Nine cardboard boxes containing aluminum question boxes and question sheets were distributed to five center superintendents and five observers at 7:30 a.m.

According to Haque, the officials and observers went to their designated examination centers after getting the cardboard boxes. Subsequently, he said, the boxes were stored in the strongrooms of each center, under the watchful eyes of invigilators, superintendents, and deputy superintendents.

Alam clarified, saying, “At 1:15 p.m., the cartons were being unpacked. A sharp object tears open the cardboard that makes up the first layer. That has an aluminum box with two locks inside: a manual and a digital lock. The question papers are ultimately contained in a seven-layered plastic envelope that is housed inside another cardboard box that is enclosed inside the aluminum box. The entire unpacking procedure takes place in front of two randomly chosen students and officials.

According to Alam, the Bihar Economic Offenses Unit personnel arrived for an investigation on June 21. The Oasis School test center in Hazaribagh matched the serial code discovered on the burned remains of a leaked question paper in Bihar, according to the EOU. The two aluminum boxes containing the question papers were taken by the EOU personnel.