NEET 2026 paper leak: MBBS student in Kerala sent 'guess paper' to Rajasthan, cops probe test material sale

Days before the NEET exam held on May 3, an MBBS student in Kerala is learnt to have sent the test materials, called as 'guess paper', similar to the questions appeared in the examination, a preliminary probe by the Special Operations Group of the Rajasthan Police has revealed.

The SOG has been looking into the alleged leak of the NEET question paper after receiving information that a set of questions circulated before May 3 was similar to the content of the original question papers.

Anand Kumar Shrivastava, DGP, Operations Cell, Rajasthan Police, told Onmanorama that the origin of the guess paper has been traced to Kerala. "Initial probe reveals that a student of Medical College in Kerala sent the material. We have not registered an FIR so far. We are collecting the basic information as of now," said Shrivastava, adding that other details like how the student received the guess paper in the first place are being probed.

The police have not disclosed the student's identity. It is learnt that he is a native of Rajasthan.

The police need to establish if the guess paper was fraudulently prepared and circulated for monetary gains. "We are looking into whether anybody or a group made illicit gains by cheating candidates with the propagation of guess paper," ADGP Vishal Bansal (ATS & SOG, Rajasthan) told Onmanorama.

Over 400 questions were circulated in the days before the examination, and questions related to two subjects, Biology and Chemistry, were similar, police officials said.

Bansal added that the investigation mainly centres around the possibility of criminal activity and no case has been registered so far. The test materials were reportedly sent from Kerala to a coaching centre in Sikar, from where they were widely circulated via WhatsApp.

Though police did not confirm, reports suggest that around 20 suspects involved in the circulation of NEET test materials have been brought in for questioning. The probe covers places like Dehradun, Sikar and Jhunjhunu. The team is currently focusing on field-level inquiries and searches, according to the officials.

Around 22.7 lakh aspirants appeared for the NEET UG examination held on May 3. Students who clear the exam gain admission to MBBS, BDS, and other allied medical courses at various institutions across the country.

Meanwhile, the National Testing Agency (NTA), in a press release, has stated that the examination was conducted under a full security protocol and that suspicious inputs were received late on May 7 and were forwarded to central agencies for independent verification and necessary action.

Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition, Lok Sabha, condemned the alleged leak. "It's not an exam anymore, NEET is now an auction. The trust of 22 lakh children has been shattered and no one poses a greater threat to the dreams of India's youth than the Modi government. This isn't the first time, in 10 years, 89 paper leaks and 48 re-exams. Many questions were being sold on WhatsApp 42 hours before the examination," he posted on X.

Rajasthan Congress President Govind Singh Dotastra has demanded a CBI investigation into the alleged NEET examination malpractices.

The Congress Kerala also slammed the NTA. In a post on X, the Congress Kerala said that the "Guess Paper" for NEET was sold for up to ₹5 lakhs from which nearly 600/720 marks questions came, including the match options. "The National Testing Agency (NTA) is still headed by the same Pradeep Kumar Joshi, who was involved in the 2024 NEET scam, which led to NTA conducting the exam for 1500 students again. This shows that Narendra Modi and his team are complicit in this. They have time and again proven that they are incapable of running this country. They cannot even conduct an exam of so much national importance properly," the tweet read. 

In 2024, the NEET question paper leak was reported in Bihar. The initial probe by the Bihar police was later handed over to the CBI, prompting the Supreme Court to intervene and resulted in multiple arrests across different states.