By Newspatron | CPC — Chai Pe Charcha
On May 3, 2026, over 22.7 lakh students sat down to write NEET UG. They had studied for years. Their families had sacrificed. The National Testing Agency had promised GPS-tracked paper vans, biometric checks, 5G jammers. Seven days later, NTA cancelled the entire exam. A question bank had already been sold for up to ?5 lakh per seat.
What Actually Happened on May 1
The exam was scheduled for May 3. Two days earlier — on May 1 — a guess paper with 300 to 400 questions was already circulating on Telegram channels and WhatsApp groups. This was not some random prediction sheet. When students matched it against the actual paper after the exam, approximately 140 questions matched verbatim.
Think about that number. 140 out of 180 questions. Biology: 90 questions matched directly. Chemistry: 35 matched. Physics questions were deliberately excluded from the leaked set — a calculated move to prevent a repeat of 2024, when 60-plus students scored a perfect 720 and the scandal became impossible to ignore.
This was not carelessness. This was engineered.
The Chain: From Sikar to WhatsApp
Sikar, Rajasthan — the coaching hub that emerged after Kota — is at the center of this story. A PG hostel operator there received the question bank via WhatsApp from a student currently studying MBBS in Kerala. That student is from Churu district. Through a network of counselors in Sikar, the paper was sold. Prices ranged from nothing — free to some insiders — to ?5 lakh per seat.
The PG operator reported the suspicious “guess paper” to police. That complaint became the thread that unraveled the entire network. Rajasthan’s Special Operations Group (SOG) arrested 15 individuals. Suspects were picked up from Dehradun, Sikar, Jhunjhunu, and Jaipur — across at least three states.
On May 11, SOG arrested Manish — identified as the alleged mastermind — from Jaipur. Investigators are now trying to determine exactly where the paper was intercepted between the printing press and the exam centers.
Bihar angle: In Nalanda, a separate solver gang was caught on May 4. Seven individuals were arrested arriving in luxury vehicles — they had reportedly agreed to sit the exam in place of paying candidates for a fee of ?60 lakh per seat.
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NTA Denied First. Then Collapsed.
NTA’s initial response was to deny everything. Officials called it rumour. They pointed to their security apparatus — GPS vans, watermarked papers, biometric verification, 5G jammers across 5,400 centers in 551 cities. Their position: it simply could not have happened.
It had happened.
When the evidence became undeniable — police arrests, matched questions, CBI confirmation — NTA reversed course. The agency cancelled NEET UG 2026. Students who appeared will be allowed to re-sit under the same registration, with no additional fee. A new date has not yet been announced. The CBI now has the case.
This Is Not the First Time
In 2024, NEET was rocked by a paper leak from a Bihar center. Grace marks were distributed to over 1,500 students after procedural failures. The Supreme Court was forced to intervene. Students waited four months before college allotments were finalized. The Radhakrishnan Commission recommended moving NEET to an online format.
NTA refused. Their argument: it is too difficult to allocate 22 lakh students to online centers simultaneously. Critics then suggested two sessions per year — like JEE Mains. NTA rejected that too. The commission’s recommendations gathered dust.
In 2025, NTA responded to the scandal by making the paper significantly harder. That was their fix. Not systemic reform. A harder paper.
In 2026, the paper was leaked two days before it was even administered.
Who Benefits from a Broken Exam System
Ask a simple question: who gains when India’s premier medical entrance exam fails repeatedly? Private coaching institutes. Every time NEET collapses in controversy, lakhs of families conclude they cannot compete without expensive coaching. Kota, Sikar, Hyderabad — the coaching economy runs on exactly this insecurity. A functioning, trustworthy exam reduces their leverage. A broken exam maximizes it.
The Maharashtra connection adds another angle. A student from Nashik is reportedly linked to the leak chain. A CBI FIR has been registered. Police investigations are ongoing.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was occupied with West Bengal election strategy during the period when the exam was conducted and the leak became undeniable. His ministry’s primary responsibility — running a clean national exam — fell through.
The Real Cost: One Crore Lives, Not Just 22 Lakh
People focus on the 22.7 lakh students who took the exam. That number misses the full picture. For every student sitting NEET, multiply by the parents, siblings, coaching center staff, hostel owners, auto drivers near exam centers, local food stalls. The entire ecosystem that builds up around India’s largest pen-and-paper exam. One crore people — at minimum — are directly or indirectly affected every time NEET is cancelled or corrupted.
These are not statistics. These are families who planned their finances, their relocations, their year around this single date.
What Needs to Happen Now
The Radhakrishnan Commission recommendations were not wrong. NEET needs to go online. Run it in phases across multiple sessions — the infrastructure exists, the technology exists, the political will is what is missing.
The paper leak mafia needs to be treated as organised crime — not a one-off arrest and a press release. Fifteen arrests is not accountability. Accountability is systemic change that makes the next leak structurally impossible.
India is a country that debates running simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. It is buying EVMs in bulk. It can figure out how to run NEET online in two sessions.
It just needs to choose to.
Watch: Full Video Investigation
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This article is based on transcripts, NTA official statements, Rajasthan SOG disclosures, and public reporting as of May 13, 2026. The CBI investigation is ongoing. All named individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
News as they are. Not as you like it. — Newspatron
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