How NEET-UG 2026 paper was leaked on WhatsApp: 'My friend sent these...'; Exam now cancelled
NEET-UG 2026 cancelled: The National Testing Agency has officially pulled the plug on NEET-UG 2026, taken by more than 22 lakh students on May 3, announcing that the examination will be held again from scratch
- May 12, 2026,
- Updated May 12, 2026 12:59 PM IST
NTA has notified the cancellation of the NEET-UG 2026 examination after a row erupted over the leak of the question paper days before the exam on May 3.
DON'T MISS: NEET-UG 2026 cancelled! CBI probe ordered, exam to be re-conducted after paper leak row
How was the NEET-UG 2026 question paper leaked?
It started with a WhatsApp message. On the evening of May 2, the night before the NEET-UG 2026 examination, a medical student studying MBBS in Kerala sent 300 "guess paper" questions to his father's mobile phone in Sikar, Rajasthan, with a simple instruction: "My friend from Sikar sent these to me. Please give them to the girls in your hostel. These are the questions that will come tomorrow."
The operator of the PG hostel where the father worked did not review the papers that night. He distributed them to the resident students the next morning. The exam came and went. It was only afterwards, when he took the papers to a teacher at a nearby coaching institute and asked how many questions had actually appeared, that the scale of what had happened began to sink in.
The numbers that raised the alarm
The teacher's check was methodical, and the results were staggering. All 90 Biology questions asked in the NEET exam were found within a 200-question Biology guess paper. All 45 Chemistry questions appeared within an 81-question Chemistry guess paper. Most tellingly, after 36 unrelated questions, all 45 NEET Chemistry questions appeared in an unbroken sequence, without a single change in punctuation, comma, or full stop.
In total, 135 of NEET's 180 questions, each carrying 4 marks, were allegedly present in the circulated guess papers.
DO CHECKOUT: 'Not an exam anymore, NEET is an...': Congress attacks BJP over alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak
How it reached investigators
The PG hostel operator first approached the Rajasthan Police at the Udyog Nagar station in Sikar. According to his account, he was turned away. "Don't spread rumours," he was reportedly told.
He then took the information directly to the National Testing Agency. The NTA passed it to the Central Intelligence Bureau, which in turn alerted the Rajasthan Police. The State Special Operations Group launched an investigation and detained around 15 people, including the hostel operator himself.
Where did the leak come from?
Initial findings suggest the NTA's own system may not have been the source. Investigators believe the leak likely originated either at the printing press where the question paper was produced, reportedly a press in Jaipur, or from someone involved in setting the paper. Evidence gathered so far indicates that the guess paper had already reached a counsellor's mobile phone by April 29, four days before the examination.
The papers are believed to have circulated across Jaipur, Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Nagaur, Dehradun, and Kerala. In the early stages, the papers were allegedly being sold for as much as Rs 30 lakh.
Arrests and detentions
Around 15 people from Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Nagaur, and Dehradun have been detained in connection with the alleged procurement and distribution of the guess papers. Among those taken into custody is Rakesh Kumar Mandawariya, a counsellor from Sikar who is alleged to have sent the papers to the Kerala MBBS student. Avinash Lamba and Manish Yadav from Jaipur have also reportedly been detained.
What happens next
NTA officials and independent experts are currently examining whether the incident meets the threshold for formal classification as a paper leak. Until that determination is made, the SOG has not yet registered a formal case, leaving the investigation and the futures of the 22 lakh-plus students who sat the exam in a state of uncertainty.
NTA has notified the cancellation of the NEET-UG 2026 examination after a row erupted over the leak of the question paper days before the exam on May 3.
DON'T MISS: NEET-UG 2026 cancelled! CBI probe ordered, exam to be re-conducted after paper leak row
How was the NEET-UG 2026 question paper leaked?
It started with a WhatsApp message. On the evening of May 2, the night before the NEET-UG 2026 examination, a medical student studying MBBS in Kerala sent 300 "guess paper" questions to his father's mobile phone in Sikar, Rajasthan, with a simple instruction: "My friend from Sikar sent these to me. Please give them to the girls in your hostel. These are the questions that will come tomorrow."
The operator of the PG hostel where the father worked did not review the papers that night. He distributed them to the resident students the next morning. The exam came and went. It was only afterwards, when he took the papers to a teacher at a nearby coaching institute and asked how many questions had actually appeared, that the scale of what had happened began to sink in.
The numbers that raised the alarm
The teacher's check was methodical, and the results were staggering. All 90 Biology questions asked in the NEET exam were found within a 200-question Biology guess paper. All 45 Chemistry questions appeared within an 81-question Chemistry guess paper. Most tellingly, after 36 unrelated questions, all 45 NEET Chemistry questions appeared in an unbroken sequence, without a single change in punctuation, comma, or full stop.
In total, 135 of NEET's 180 questions, each carrying 4 marks, were allegedly present in the circulated guess papers.
DO CHECKOUT: 'Not an exam anymore, NEET is an...': Congress attacks BJP over alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak
How it reached investigators
The PG hostel operator first approached the Rajasthan Police at the Udyog Nagar station in Sikar. According to his account, he was turned away. "Don't spread rumours," he was reportedly told.
He then took the information directly to the National Testing Agency. The NTA passed it to the Central Intelligence Bureau, which in turn alerted the Rajasthan Police. The State Special Operations Group launched an investigation and detained around 15 people, including the hostel operator himself.
Where did the leak come from?
Initial findings suggest the NTA's own system may not have been the source. Investigators believe the leak likely originated either at the printing press where the question paper was produced, reportedly a press in Jaipur, or from someone involved in setting the paper. Evidence gathered so far indicates that the guess paper had already reached a counsellor's mobile phone by April 29, four days before the examination.
The papers are believed to have circulated across Jaipur, Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Nagaur, Dehradun, and Kerala. In the early stages, the papers were allegedly being sold for as much as Rs 30 lakh.
Arrests and detentions
Around 15 people from Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Nagaur, and Dehradun have been detained in connection with the alleged procurement and distribution of the guess papers. Among those taken into custody is Rakesh Kumar Mandawariya, a counsellor from Sikar who is alleged to have sent the papers to the Kerala MBBS student. Avinash Lamba and Manish Yadav from Jaipur have also reportedly been detained.
What happens next
NTA officials and independent experts are currently examining whether the incident meets the threshold for formal classification as a paper leak. Until that determination is made, the SOG has not yet registered a formal case, leaving the investigation and the futures of the 22 lakh-plus students who sat the exam in a state of uncertainty.