Lakhs of students will have to prepare again for NEET-UG.
Political row erupts over NEET paper leak as CBI produces 5 accused in Delhi court
Bihar NDA leaders accuse the Opposition of misleading students over the issue, while a probe unearths a long trail leading from Maharashtra to Haryana
The massive controversy over the NEET-UG (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Undergraduate) exam paper leak allegations took a political turn on Thursday (May 14) as leaders of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar accused the opposition of politicising the issue and trying to mislead students.
They also said strict action had already been initiated against the culprits.
Speaking to reporters in Patna, Umesh Singh Kushwaha, Bihar unit chief of the Janata Dal (United), said, “The authorities concerned have already initiated action against those who indulged in the NEET-UG paper leak case. Strict action will be taken against the accused ... no one will be spared. Opposition members are simply politicising the matter and trying to mislead students.”
Also read: NEET scam: Bihar gang busted, expert calls for online exam | Interview
The NEET-UG 2026 exam, which was held on May 3, was scrapped on Tuesday (May 12) amid allegations of paper leak, with the Central Bureau of Investigation registering a first information report after the government asked it to carry out a comprehensive inquiry into the “irregularities”.
Guru Prakash Paswan, national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a Patna-based leader, said central probe agencies were looking into the case, and actions were being initiated against the accused.
Recently, Tejashwi Yadav, national working president of Bihar’s opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal, blasted the NDA government over the cancellation of the key examination and said the future of “23 lakh students is once again at stake”.
CBI produces 5 accused at Delhi court
On Wednesday (May 13), the CBI produced before a Delhi court all five accused arrested in connection with the alleged leak case.
The five accused were produced before the CBI Special Judge Ajay Gupta after they were taken into custody from different states over their alleged involvement in the case.
Also read: NEET-UG 2026 paper leak: Will conducting exam online solve problem?
The accused were identified as Shubham Khairnar from Nashik, Maharashtra; Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal and Dinesh Biwal from Jaipur, Rajasthan; and Yash Yadav from Gurugram, Haryana.
Handwritten copy
Early CBI probe found a handwritten copy of the NEET-UG 2026 question paper was made into PDF files in Rajasthan by the father of one of the aspirants, news reports said. It is widely believed that the alleged leak might have started in Rajasthan, days before the exam day.
Initial investigation indicated that the question paper was first accessed and leaked through Yash, who allegedly sent it to Rajasthan. According to investigators, Yash knew Vikas, whose father, Dinesh Biwal, accused by the opposition in Rajasthan of having links with the state’s ruling BJP, allegedly scanned the handwritten paper and gave it a digital shape.
Also read | How Rajasthan's Sikar became ground zero of the NEET 2026 scandal
Officials also alleged that the scanned paper was given to students in coaching centres in Sikar, Rajasthan. One report cited some students as telling the investigators that they paid between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 5 lakh to get the leaked material.
Sikar whistleblower raised alarm
Meanwhile, a chemistry teacher in Sikar has hogged the spotlight for exposing the alleged paper leak hours after the exam ended and bringing the issue to the attention of the national agencies.
According to him, he checked the question paper on the evening of May 3 when somebody showed him a paper that went viral on WhatsApp groups. On comparing it with the original paper, he found that more than 40 chemistry questions were identical. The same happened in biology, one of his colleagues who teaches the subject confirmed.
Also read: NEET UG 2026 cancellation: Of shattered dreams and burned-out lives of aspirants
Sensing trouble, he discussed the matter with some of his fellow teachers and rushed to Udyog Nagar Police Station in Sikar after midnight. However, the officers there asked him to come with written evidence before lodging a complaint. The whistleblower spent the next two days collecting whatever proof he could and emailed the complaint to the home ministry and the National Testing Agency, which oversees entrance examinations.
He received calls from CBI and NTA officials, and the very next day (May 7), officials from the home ministry reached Sikar to record his statement and took possession of the evidence that he had, reports added.