NEET-UG 2026 Leak Case: BAMS Student Arrested Over Alleged Rs 10 Lakh Deal
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken a 30-year-old BAMS student from Maharashtra’s Nashik into custody in connection with the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case. The accused, identified as Shubham Khairnar, is suspected to have purchased a leaked “guess paper” linked to the controversy surrounding the national medical entrance examination.
According to sources, Khairnar allegedly paid Rs 10 lakh to obtain the question paper from another suspect based in Pune. Investigators further claimed that he later sold the same material for Rs 15 lakh to a buyer from Haryana. Officials said multiple CBI teams reached Nashik to take custody of the accused after he was initially detained by the Nashik Crime Branch.
Police sources stated that the examination paper was not printed in Nashik, creating doubts over earlier suspicions that the leak may have originated directly from a printing press in the city. Meanwhile, the accused’s family has denied all allegations and maintained that he has been falsely implicated in the case.
The NEET-UG 2026 examination was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 3 for admissions to undergraduate medical courses across India. Nearly 22 lakh students appeared for the exam, which later came under controversy after allegations surfaced that questions from a circulated “guess paper” closely matched the actual question paper.
The controversy intensified after Rajasthan’s Special Operations Group (SOG) reportedly found that all 90 Biology questions and all 45 Chemistry questions from the actual exam were present in a handwritten “guess paper” containing 281 questions. Multiple arrests have since been made across different states as agencies continue probing the alleged leak network.
Amid growing pressure and concerns over exam integrity, the NTA later cancelled the NEET-UG 2026 examination and referred the matter to central agencies for further investigation. The case has triggered nationwide debate over the transparency and security of India’s major entrance examinations, while lakhs of students continue to await clarity regarding the future schedule of the exam.
