4 min readMumbai, Pune, SikarUpdated: May 13, 2026 03:40 PM IST
As the investigation into the NEET-UG paper leak expands amid mounting outrage over the exam’s cancellation, several people have been detained in Maharashtra and Rajasthan in connection with the leak.
In Maharashtra’s Ahilyanagar, a CBI team has taken into custody a Pune resident who allegedly provided the physical copy of the leaked question paper to Shubham Khairnar, a Nashik-based Ayurvedic medicine student. Khairnar, who has been arrested, is accused of making soft copies of the paper and circulating them on WhatsApp.
A police officer said the Pune man is not a student and came under the scanner during Khairnar’s questioning.
The source said they are not yet sure whether the Pune man sourced the leaked paper or was just another link in the chain, like Khairnar claims he is. “His questioning will help us reach closer to the source of the leak,” the officer said.
The officer also dismissed reports that the question paper was printed in Nashik and leaked from there. “The question paper was not printed in Nashik as the press in Nashik is used to print currency and bonds. We do not know as yet the source, where the papers are printed,” the officer said.
In Pune, a woman was detained after cops questioned her.
The Special Operations Group in Rajasthan has, meanwhile, picked up two brothers who run a property business at Jamwa Ramgarh. The Congress has said the brothers have been photographed with BJP leaders in the past and alleged that one of them has links with the party. Police sources said the brothers’ political links are being investigated.
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Sources in Rajasthan also said the custody of a total of 26 people has been handed over to the CBI in connection with the leak.
In a move that has affected over 22 lakh examinees, the National Testing Agency (NTA) yesterday cancelled the exam, held on May 3. This is the first time such a decision has been taken since the exam was introduced in 2016. The NTA has said fresh dates will be notified for the exam.
The exam’s cancellation has triggered nationwide protests as students take to the streets and stress how the decision to scrap the exam has undone their hard work.
NTA Director General Abhishek Singh said the decision to cancel the test was taken after the process was found to have been “vitiated”. The NTA cannot “continue to allow miscreants” to operate “even in an isolated way, even in one sector, one subject”, he said.
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“The registration data, candidature, and examination centres opted for in the May 2026 cycle will be carried forward to the re-conducted examination. No fresh registration will be required, and no additional examination fee will be levied. In addition, fees already paid will be refunded to the students, and the exam will be re-conducted using NTA’s internal resources,” the agency said.
“This decision has been taken in the interest of students and in recognition of the trust on which the national examination system rests. The Agency is conscious that re-conduct will cause real and significant inconvenience to candidates and their families. NTA does not take that consequence lightly. The decision has been taken because the alternative would have caused greater and more lasting damage to that trust,” it added.
The CBI’s FIR has invoked sections of criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust, theft, and destruction of evidence under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 have also been invoked.
