The NEET-UG 2026 exam has been cancelled following allegations of a paper leak, which has links to Pune and spread across several states.
Published: May 14, 2026 4:53 PM IST
The NEET-UG 2026 exam was cancelled on Tuesday. This move was taken following allegations of a paper leak, which reportedly originated in Pune, Maharashtra, and spread to several states. According to reports, the paper was first sold in Pune to Shubham Khairnar, a resident of Nashik and a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) student.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which took over the investigation of the case on the instructions of the central government, has detained another accused, Omkar Shingote, an Ayurvedic doctor, from Pune. Shingote, a resident of the Junnar area of Pune, had been under the surveillance of the Pune police for some time.
Investigators suspect that he and his friend Dhananjay Lokhande, who was detained from Ahilyanagar, helped students secure admissions to medical colleges. Investigating agencies are currently questioning Shingote extensively to uncover other individuals involved in this alleged racket. Dhananjay Lokhande is a resident of Rahuri in Maharashtra’s Ahilyanagar district and was hiding there after fleeing from Pune.
5 accused arrested from Maharashtra
According to news agency PTI, along with Dhananjay, Pune Police also detained a woman named Manisha Waghmare, a beautician by profession. With this new arrest, the total number of accused in the case in Maharashtra has risen to five. One of them was arrested in Nashik, one in Ahilyanagar, and three others in Pune.
Action was also taken in Sikar and Jaipur of Rajasthan
Additionally, other media reports suggest that the NEET-UG question paper allegedly reached Rajasthan through Yash Yadav, an acquaintance of Vikas Bival. Police said that Vikas’s father, Dinesh Bival, scanned the hard copies of the question paper, converted them into PDF files, and distributed them among students attending coaching centers in Sikar.
The students told investigators that they had paid between 2 and 5 lakh rupees for the paper. Police sources further claimed that Rakesh Mandwaria, who runs a career guidance center called ‘RK Consultancy’ in this coaching hub city, has confessed to purchasing the paper from Dinesh and Mangilal for 15 lakh rupees.
Police sources said Dinesh and Mangilal are allegedly property dealers with farming backgrounds. Rajasthan’s Special Operations Group (SOG) has so far arrested 15 people in the case, including alleged masterminds Manish Yadav and Rakesh Mandwaria.
