Entire paper was never available on any social media channel: NTA DG Abhishek Singh on NEET-UG leak row

Speaking to ANI over a Zoom call, Singh said the preliminary verification by the agency had not found any instance of the complete question paper being available on social media channels.

"No, the entire paper was never available on Telegram or any other channel as far as we have verified the reports," Singh said.

Explaining the nature of the alleged breach, the NTA DG said the issue involved a limited set of questions that appeared in a circulating "guess paper" and matched portions of the actual examination.

"I don't know how you define a leak. But I will call it something which has happened, which has violated the 100% integrity of the examination and our commitment to a zero-error examination. In so far as the typical, traditional way of leak is concerned, no question paper in the form of a complete question paper has leaked anywhere," he said.

"What has happened is that a guess paper in the form of a PDF was circulating on WhatsApp, and it had a few questions which were matching with the questions which were asked. When we verified whether this was in circulation before May 3, it was found that some of it was. So, given that a few questions were available to some people before the examination, it makes it unfair for the 22.79 lakh students who were preparing for this examination with their hard work," Singh added.

He said the agency had taken the decision to cancel the examination and recommend a CBI probe in the interest of maintaining fairness.

"So, because of that act of a few anti-social elements, we could not have compromised the interests of the honest students. So, we took this tough call of cancelling this examination and ordering a CBI inquiry," he said.

Meanwhile, in Maharashtra, four teams of CBI reached the Crime Branch Unit-2 office in Nashik to take custody of accused Shubham Khairnar, who was earlier arrested by Nashik Police in connection with the alleged paper leak case.

The controversy stems from allegations raised by the Rajasthan Special Operations Group (SOG), which is probing claims that a "guess paper" containing around 410 questions was circulated among students prior to the examination. Investigators suspect that nearly 120 questions from this document matched the Chemistry section of the actual NEET-UG paper.

Rajasthan Additional Director General of Police Vishal Bansal had earlier stated that the document may have been in circulation weeks before the exam, though the probe is still at an early stage.

Following inputs from central agencies, the Centre on Tuesday cancelled the NEET-UG 2026 examination conducted on May 3, citing concerns over the integrity of the process. The National Testing Agency said the decision was taken after coordination with law enforcement agencies flagged irregularities in the examination system.

The government has also referred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The agency has registered an FIR under provisions of criminal conspiracy, cheating, corruption, and the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.

Special CBI teams have been deployed across multiple locations as part of the investigation, with officials confirming that custody of key accused individuals is being sought for interrogation.

The NEET-UG examination, which is the single entrance test for MBBS, BDS and other undergraduate medical courses, was held on May 3 across more than 5,400 centres in India and abroad, with around 22.79 lakh candidates appearing. (ANI)