NEET-UG candidates undergo document verification and biometric authentication at an examination centre in Bengaluru on Sunday (June 21). Photo: PTI
NEET re-exam: Bihar racket busted; medical students among held
Police suspect that nine impersonators were part of the operation, along with several others who allegedly helped facilitate the fraud
A day after nearly 2 million students appeared for the NEET-UG re-exam, a suspected cheating racket has surfaced in Bihar’s Lakhisarai, raising fresh concerns over the security of the medical entrance test.
The Bihar Police have arrested 24 people, including medical students and employees of a biometric company involved in the examination process, for their alleged role in an impersonation-based cheating network.
Also read: NTA dismisses video claiming paper leak as 'fake', says NEET re-exam successfully held
District authorities said a total of 30 people have been arrested during the investigation. Of these, nine were allegedly appearing as proxy candidates, while 21 others were suspected to have links with the alleged fraud.
Cheating racket
According to investigators, the racket involved candidates allegedly arranging people to appear for the NEET exam on their behalf. Police suspect that nine impersonators were part of the operation, along with several others who allegedly helped facilitate the fraud.
The alleged malpractice came to light during checks at multiple examination centres in Lakhisarai. One impersonator was caught at KRK High School, seven at Kendriya Vidyalaya and another at Hasanpur School examination centre. The arrested individuals are reportedly from different districts.
Medical students among those arrested
The investigation has revealed the involvement of several students from medical and nursing backgrounds.
Also read: NEET re-exam 2026: Leak crisis exposes deeper flaws in India’s exam system
Police suspect medical student Arpit Raj, a student of ANM Medical College and Hospital, Gaya, to be one of the key figures behind the alleged network. Raj had earlier been questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the 2024 NEET paper leak case.
The probe expanded after Mayank Kashyap, a third-year MBBS student at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), allegedly entered Hasanpur High School examination centre while posing as a biometric company employee. He was arrested after officials questioned his presence at the centre.
Fourteen employees of the biometric company involved in the NEET examination process were also arrested as part of the investigation.
Following the arrests, police conducted raids at KRK Higher Secondary School and Kendriya Vidyalaya in Lakhisarai to trace other suspected members of the network.
Among those arrested were Banaras Hindu University nursing student Poonam Kumari, who was allegedly caught appearing for the examination on behalf of another candidate, and AIIMS Rae Bareli student Saurabh Jha.
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An intern at Shahdara Medical College in Delhi, Aman Agarwal, was also among those arrested, while Nalanda Medical College and Hospital nursing student Sanjeet and his brother were also questioned in connection with the case.
Failure of rigid security
The arrests have raised questions over how medical students allegedly participated in the cheating network despite restrictions imposed by their institutions during the examination period.
Several medical colleges had instructed students not to leave their campuses around the NEET re-exam date. Institutions, including PMCH, had organised monitoring measures such as seminars and quizzes to ensure compliance. However, police suspect that some students managed to leave their campuses and allegedly became part of the impersonation network.
NTA defends exam process
Meanwhile, National Testing Agency (NTA) Director General Abhishek Singh said the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination was conducted without glitches and with “zero tolerance” towards malpractice.
Also read: NEET re-exam: Nagpur student 'shocked' to get Abu Dhabi centre; NTA says he chose
Defending the temporary Telegram ban ahead of the exam, Singh said the platform was being misused to spread fake question paper leak claims and mislead anxious students.
He also said the NTA was “100 per cent confident” that there was no question paper leak this time and announced that future NEET examinations would move towards a computer-based testing format.