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From NTA official to hard copy to WhatsApp: CBI details NEET-UG paper leak trail
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The NEET-UG paper leak, which has led to the exam’s cancellation and sparked nationwide outrage, originated from within the National Testing Agency (NTA), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has told a Delhi court. The central agency, which has made seven arrests in the case so far, explained the trail behind the alleged leak to the court on Thursday.The CBI has said that Shubham Khairnar, an Ayurveda student and the first to be arrested in the case from Maharashtra, got the paper from Dhananjay Lokhanda. Lokhanda, who knew Khairnar, is alleged to have got the paper from Pune-based Manisha Waghmare. Waghmare, it is alleged, got it from a “source in NTA”. the CBI has said. Both Lokhanda and Waghmare have been arrested and are now in the CBI’s custody.Gurgaon’s Yash Yadav enters the picture next. According to the CBI’s submissions, Khairnar allegedly “facilitated accused Yash Yadav for distribution of leaked NEET (UG) 2026 question paper and accordingly on 29.04.2026, accused Yash Yadav got the PDF files of the NEET question papers through Telegram”. The agency has recovered the PDF files containing papers of Physics, Chemistry and Biology. The CBI also told the court that it wanted to ascertain the role of public servants in the leak after confronting the accused. Lokhanda was produced in court on Friday. Five accused were produced in court on Thursday: Khairnar, Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal, and Dinesh Biwal from Jaipur, and Yadav. The accused, arrested in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Haryana, have been brought to Delhi on transit remand. “Their remand is necessary as it was a larger conspiracy in the whole nation… Papers were leaked and distributed. We need to find the extent to which the accused persons had access to the public servants and how many people from the printing press were involved,” the public prosecutor representing CBI told the court. On Friday, the public prosecutor said the investigation was ongoing and that Waghmare and Lokhanda were allegedly involved in providing the papers to Kharnair. The agency provided the same grounds of arrest for all seven accused persons.Story continues below this ad The CBI is learnt to have found that Khairnar allegedly informed Yash that Mangilal Biwal had approached him for “arranging leaked NEET UG 2026 question papers before the examination for his younger son for 10-12 lakhs”. According to the CBI, Mangilal allegedly contacted Yash on WhatsApp for the leaked papers. “On 29.04.2026, Shubham (Khairnar) allegedly informed Yash Yadav that he would provide leaked question papers of Physics, Chemistry and Biology papers which will have approximately 500-600 questions capable of securing around very good marks, which can ensure admission in reputed medical colleges,” the CBI said. After this, Yadav allegedly received PDF files of leaked question papers on Telegram. Mangilal allegedly purchased the paper from Yadav for 10 lakh, and provided it to his son, his cousin and his son’s friends. Mangilal’s son allegedly contacted several other candidates and shared these details with Yadav over WhatsApp and Instagram, the CBI has said. “Dinesh Biwal… stated that Yash Yadav had provided NEET UG 2026 leaked question sets in PDF format to his elder brother… on the Telegram application in consideration of Rs 12 lakhs, to be paid later, after taking security in the form of original educational documents and a signed blank cheque,” the CBI alleged.Story continues below this ad In its remand papers submitted before the court, the CBI said it needed the custody of the accused to “prevent further commission of similar offences involving leakage of question papers” and to “identify and apprehend other co-accused persons involved in the offence”. It also said it needed to “recover and analyse digital devices” and uncover the “financial trail connected to the NEET UG 2026 examination”. There was also a need to “unearth the larger conspiracy” by identifying officials of NTA, which conducts the NEET
Mumbai, SikarUpdated: May 13, 2026 03:29 PM IST An accused being taken into custody by CBI officials from the Nashik Crime Branch Unit-2 office in connection with the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, in Nashik on Tuesday. (ANI Video Grab) As the investigation into the NEET-UG paper leak expands amid mounting outrage over the exam’s cancellation, three more 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. 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. 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.Story continues below this ad 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. “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.Story continues below this ad “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. Hamza Khan is a seasoned Correspondent for The Indian Express, specifically reporting from the diverse and politically dynamic state of Rajasthan. Based in Jaipur, he provides high-authority coverage on the
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