Hours after the cancellation of the NEET UG 2026 examination over alleged paper leak, a suspect named Shubham Khairnar has been arrested from Indira Nagar in Maharashtra’s Nashik.
Acting on intelligence inputs from the Rajasthan Police, the Nashik City Crime Branch arrested Shubham Khairnar in connection with the paper leak.
He will be handed over to the Rajasthan Police, which was investigating the alleged leak. With the CBI now having taken over the investigation, Khairnar will subsequently be transferred to the central probe agency.
Kiran Kumar Chavan, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Nashik City, said, “A request was received from the Rajasthan Police this morning. The accused in question involved in the NEET case has been taken into custody by the Crime Branch. We will hand him over to the Rajasthan Police upon their arrival.”
According to the official, the accused had altered his appearance and changed his hairstyle but the police indentified him using technical intelligence.
A “guess paper” that resulted in cancellation of NEET UG Examination 2026
The National Testing Agency (NTA), responsible for conducting the entrance test, scrapped the NEET UG 2026 examination after a “guess paper” containing 410 questions circulated on WhatsApp groups ahead of the May 3 exam.
Some 120 of the 410 “guess paper” questions had appeared in the exam, raising paper leak concerns.
All accused will be arrested, re-examination soon: NTA DG
Following the leak, NTA DG Abhishek Singh said, “All accused will be nabbed and jailed so that the future of students is not adversely impacted.”
Singh also confirmed that a re-examination will be conducted on a later date. He said that the students will not be charged any additional fee for the re-exam and the fee charged in the May 3 exam will also be refunded.