The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has told a Delhi court that the leak of the NEET-UG 2026 question paper may have originated inside the National Testing Agency, multiple reports suggested on Thursday.
The claim was recorded by the court in its order, noting that Shubham Khairnar had obtained the paper from a Pune-based person who had in turn obtained it from his “NTA source”, reported Hindustan Times.
The agency said it is now working to identify the NTA officials and other government functionaries involved in the leak.
Meanwhile, two more suspects were arrested on Thursday, taking the total number of people in custody to seven.
The NEET-UG exam was held on May 3 for over 22 lakh students seeking admission to undergraduate medical and dental courses. The National Testing Agency cancelled it on May 12 after Rajasthan's Special Operations Group confirmed that leaked questions matched the actual paper.
A CBI FIR was registered the same day on a complaint by the NTA Division director of the Department of Higher Education.
The Paper Trail
Five of the accused — Shubham Khairnar from Nashik, Yash Yadav from Gurugram, and Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal, and Dinesh Biwal from Jaipur — were produced before CBI Special Judge Ajay Gupta and remanded to seven days' police custody.
As per Hindustan Times report, the court, in granting custody, noted the case revealed the role of an "organised gang" involved in leaking and circulating confidential examination papers for monetary gain.
The CBI told the court that in April 2026, Shubham Khairnar informed Yash Yadav that Mangilal Biwal was looking for leaked question papers for his son, at a price of Rs 10 to 12 lakh.
On April 29, Yadav allegedly shared the Physics, Chemistry, and Biology papers in PDF format over Telegram.
Investigators believe as many as 135 out of 180 questions may have been present in the circulated material. Incriminating chats and digital evidence were recovered from the accused's phones.
ALSO READ: NEET Aspirant In UP Dies By Suicide, Family Alleges Paper Leak Trauma
The 'Insider' Role Is Yet To Be Established
Senior public prosecutor Neetu Singh told the court that the CBI needed custody to "probe a larger conspiracy to unearth how the examination paper was leaked and how far was it distributed." Singh flagged "the role of public servants" possibly involved in the offence was yet to be examined, as was the role of "the printing press hired by the accused persons", reports said.
The CBI argued that keeping the accused in custody was necessary "to prevent further commission of similar offences involving leakage of question papers, to identify and apprehend other co-accused persons involved in the offence."
ALSO READ: NEET-UG Exam Leak Case: Delhi Court Sends Five Accused To Seven-Day CBI Custody
The agency told the court it was focused on tracing the "NTA source" of an unnamed Pune-based person — the critical link that would establish how the question paper left the NTA's possession. "CBI is pursuing all the leads with regard to this case," the agency said.
Lawyers for the defence pushed back on the remand application, contending that the arrests were illegal because the accused had not been informed of the grounds for their detention. They also argued that custodial interrogation was not necessary.
The CBI said it is pursuing the digital and financial trails and that further arrests are expected.
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