NEET-UG 2026 paper leak: Delhi court sends five accused to seven-day CBI custody

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday sent five people arrested in a case related to the NEET-UG exam leak to seven days' CBI custody.

Special CBI judge Ajay Gupta was hearing a CBI plea to interrogate all five accused for seven more days in the case to unearth the whole conspiracy.

The agency arrested the five for their alleged involvement in the leak of the exam conducted on May 3 by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

The five arrested were identified as Shubham Khairnar from Nashik, Mangilal Biwal from Jaipur, Vikas Biwal and Dinesh Biwal from Jaipur, and Yash Yadav from Gurugram.

They were taken into custody by the agency after a transit remand was secured from different states.

The NEET (UG) 2026 exam for admission to undergraduate courses in medical colleges, held on May 3, was cancelled on Tuesday amid allegations of paper leak. The government asked the CBI to carry out a comprehensive inquiry into the "irregularities." In a remand plea, the agency alleged that the exam was compromised after questions were circulated in PDF format through WhatsApp and Telegram before the exam.

An FIR was registered on May 12 on a complaint by Department of Higher Education (NTA Division) director Varun Bhardwaj.

Special Public Prosecutor VK Pathak and Special Public Prosecutor Neetu Singh informed the court that an inquiry by Rajasthan's Special Operations Group (SOG) had reportedly confirmed the authenticity of some leaked questions, following which the government cancelled the exam.

"In April 2026, one Shubham of Nasik informed Yash Yadav that Mangilal had approached him for arranging leaked NEET UG 2026 question papers before the examination for his younger son for 10-12 lakhs," Pathak said.

The agency claimed that on April 29, Yash Yadav shared the leaked Physics, Chemistry and Biology question papers in PDF format through Telegram.

According to the CBI, Mangilal allegedly received the leaked papers from Yadav as part of a Rs 10 lakh deal and distributed printed copies to NEET aspirants, including his son Aman Biwal, and his relatives and acquaintances.

The agency also alleged that Vikash Biwal contacted several candidates and shared their details with Yadav through WhatsApp and Instagram for the circulation of leaked papers.

"On April 29, 2026, Shubham allegedly informed Yash Yadav that he would provide leaked question papers of Physics, Chemistry and Biology papers, which will have approximately 500-600 questions capable of securing around very good marks, which can ensure admission in reputed medical colleges," it said.

The CBI said incriminating chats, leaked question papers, and other digital evidence were recovered from the mobile phones of the accused, while some deleted data would require forensic examination.

Seeking custodial interrogation, the agency told the court that police custody was necessary to identify other accused, trace the source of the leak, analyse digital and financial trails, recover evidence and probe the possible involvement of NTA officials.

"The purpose of conducting investigation, the arrested accused persons are required to be taken under police custody for custodial interrogation to prevent further commission of similar offences involving leakage of question papers, to identify and apprehend other co-accused persons involved in the offence," the CBI said in a remand copy.