NEET-UG leak row rocks Rajasthan, handwritten 'guess paper' circulated days before exam

Jaipur: A paper leak controversy is again rocking Rajasthan, this time hovering around a possible leak in the NEET-UG 2026 entrance exam, held on May 3, putting under suspicion the integrity of one of the toughest national exams in the country.  

A handwritten “guess paper” with 300 questions was supposedly being circulated just before the exam in Sikar district on May 1, out of which 140 questions matched the final questions word-for-word in the NEET entrance. These questions accounted for 600 marks out of the total 720 of the NEET exam.

The question bank was being circulated by a Sikar-based counsellor, Rakesh Mandawariya, who is said to have received it from someone who practises medicine in Kerala and is originally from Churu. Then it spread like wildfire through WhatsApp groups, PG accommodations and career counsellors. Sources say the ‘guess paper’ reportedly sold at Rs 5 lakh on the first day, and later it was being sold by many other counsellors in Sikar, Jhunujhunu, and the price came down to Rs 30,000.

Rajasthan Special Operations Group (SOG) is conducting the probe at two levels. They have detained around 15 career counsellors in Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Dehradun and are analysing their chats, call records and Apps to ascertain a possible paper leak. Interestingly, the question order and the options in the actual entrance exam also matched those in the ‘guess paper.'

The SOG is trying to establish whether it is part of a syndicate that operates planned paper leaks, or it happened spontaneously as part of normal guess paper or question bank. which are generally circulated. The SOG is trying to establish whether there has indeed been an actual paper leak.   

A total of 22,05,035 students appeared for NEET exam this year, panning 551 cities in India and 14 international centres. Around two lakh students appeared in Rajasthan alone. 

The National Testing Agency (NTA) which conducts NEET, says in a post on its X handle that it is aware of reports concerning the action initiated by the Rajasthan SOG in connection with alleged irregularities around NEET (UG) 2026. It says that “The examination on 3 May 2026 was conducted as scheduled and under a full security protocol. Question papers were transported in GPS-tracked vehicles bearing unique, traceable watermark identifiers. Examination halls operated under AI-assisted CCTV monitoring from a central control room, with biometric verification of every candidate and 5G jammers in operation. The examination process itself proceeded as planned across all centres on the day.” 

It also goes on to say that “on the late evening of 7 May 2026, four days after the examination, NTA received inputs concerning alleged malpractice activity around the examination. These inputs were escalated by NTA to central agencies on the morning of 8 May 2026 for independent verification and necessary action. The action subsequently undertaken by the law enforcement agencies, including the detentions.”

NEET-UG entrance has also previously been rocked by alleged paper leaks and unusual results that raised suspicions.   

In 2024, the NEET-UG 2024 entrance was called out by students and parents, leading to nationwide protests, multiple Supreme Court hearings and CBI investigation.When results were declared on June 4, 2024, an unprecedented 67 students had achieved a score of 720/720, compared to just 2 in 2023. And many of these toppers belonged to the same exam canters, mostly from. Haryana, rising suspicion of organised malpractice like paper leaks. The NTA admitted awarding ‘grace marks’ to 1573 candidates due to loss of time at certain centres. Under Supreme Court pressure, the NTA withdrew these grace marks. The affected 1,563 students were given a choice: sit for a retest on June 23, 2024, or accept their original scores without the bonus.  Allegations of paper leaks also surfaced in Patna and Godhra. The Supreme Court refused to cancel the exam stating there’s was no evidence of a “systematic breach” that affected the integrity of the whole exam. 

Sikar, where the alleged paper leak has happened, has rapidly transformed into an educational hub, mainly with mushrooming coaching centres and career counsellors.  It is often referred to as the ‘Next Kota,’ which is considered as the country’s premier coaching hub for cracking the difficult NEET and JEE exams. 

Based on data analysed from the NTA results submitted to the Supreme Court regarding NEET-UG, 2024, a report highlighted that  Sikar has a significantly higher selection ratio in NEET compared to the national average. In 2024, approximately 7.48% of students from Sikar scored 650+, while the national average was only 1.3%. Sikar has gained more acceptability because its cost of living and its tuition fees are much cheaper than Kota.. 

Mostly, the students are from the rural belt in Rajasthan, Ashfaq Kamkhyani, a Sikar-based political analyst told DH. “There are coaching institutes and career counselling centres numbering in hundreds. They run their own schools and also have tie-ups with schools. Most coaching institutes’ owners have highly-placed political connections as well. They help each other out. Also these career counsellors reserve seats in medical colleges abroad like China,  Uzbekistan, Russia , Ukraine, Bangladesh and sell to those interested. These students have to just qualify NEET, last year  a marks of 144 was enough for student to attend counselling. These counsellors are able to sell these medical study packages to students, who may have scored low but are interested in pursuing medical degrees.And these paper leaks are also operated by syndicates running in the area. Earlier also paper leaks have happened here.”

The coaching ecosystem in Sikar is estimated to contribute significantly to the district's GDP. Local representatives have noted that 30% to 35% of Sikar's total economy is directly or indirectly dependent on these educational institutes.

During the Congress tenure from 2018-2023, paper leaks became a major political flashpoint with the then Opposition BJP targeting the ruling government vociferously. Rajasthan had then witnessed a series of high-profile paper leaks affecting over 1.3 crore youth and leading to the cancellation of several major recruitment exams. The scale of the leaks was massive, with the SOG registering 19 FIRs against over 320 accused during this period. There were paper leaks in many government recruitment exams like REET level-2, Senior Teacher Grade II, Police Sub-inspector (SI) recruitment exam and others. 

Investigations had exposed a deep nexus between high-ranking Rajasthan Public Service Commission officials and coaching centres.