NEET Leak Traced to ‘NTA Source’, CBI tells Court

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has been traced back as the source of the NEET-UG 2026 question paper leak, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) informed a Delhi court on Thursday. The court noted in its ruling that Shubham Khairnar had acquired the paper from a Pune-based individual who had obtained it from his "NTA source."

According to the agency, it is currently attempting to identify the NTA officers and other government employees who were engaged in the leak.

The case is related to the cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 on May 12, nine days after 2.27 million students in 551 cities took the test, after central authorities' confirmation that the question paper had been compromised. As early as April 29, four days prior to the exam, a PDF with 500–600 questions—180 of which were later discovered to be "precisely identical" to the final paper—was being exchanged on Telegram, according to the CBI's remand petition.

The court order, passed by special judge (CBI) Ajay Kumar Gupta of Rouse Avenue courts while granting seven-day custody of five accused, cited the agency to state: “accused Shubham Khairnar had obtained the said paper from another person from Pune who had obtained the same from his NTA source.” The Pune-based person has not been named.

CBI told the court it wants to interrogate the accused “to unearth a larger conspiracy and source of the leaked NEET-UG 2026 question paper” and to further “identify the officials of NTA and other departments” involved.

Yash Yadav from Gurugram, Mangilal Khatik, Vikash and Dinesh Biwal from Jaipur, and Khairnar from Nashik are the five people remanded to CBI custody; they were all brought on transit remand from their respective states.

On Thursday, the CBI detained Manisha Waghmare of Pune and Dhananjay Lokhanda of Ahilyanagar.

In the past 24 hours, the agency raided 14 sites, seizing digital evidence from the accused, including cell phones, leaked question papers, and incriminating conversations. Forensic analysis is necessary for some erased data. In order to gather records, a CBI team also went to the NTA headquarters in Delhi. A CBI spokeswoman stated, "Several other suspects are currently being examined."

CBI said it is focused on tracing the “NTA source” of the unnamed Pune-based person — the link that would establish how the question paper left NTA’s custody. “CBI is pursuing all the leads with regard to this case,” the agency said.