NEET 2026 cancelled: What Rajasthan SOG probe found out about paper leak before NTA scrapped exam
A Rajasthan Police Special Operations Group (SOG) probe into the alleged NEET 2026 paper leak has found that 135 questions from a handwritten “guess paper” matched the actual NEET UG exam held on May 3, reported India Today, triggering fresh concerns over possible malpractice in one of India’s biggest entrance examinations. Investigators said all 90 Biology questions and all 45 Chemistry questions in the exam were found in the handwritten material that circulated before the test.
The matching questions reportedly accounted for 600 marks out of the total 720 in the NEET exam, making the development a major concern for lakhs of medical aspirants. Officials are now investigating whether the material was merely an unusually accurate practice question bank or evidence of an actual NEET 2026 paper leak.
According to investigators, the handwritten questionnaire began circulating in Rajasthan’s Sikar on May 1, two days before the examination. Sources said copies were allegedly sold to students for amounts ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 2 lakh. By the night before the exam, the material was reportedly being shared for nearly Rs 30,000 per copy.
The controversy deepened after investigators claimed that even the sequence of answer options in several questions matched the material circulated before the exam. The SOG probe has traced the suspected document to a Churu-based MBBS student studying at a medical college in Kerala. Officials suspect he shared the material with a friend in Sikar, after which it spread rapidly through PG accommodations, coaching-linked networks, counsellors and NEET aspirants.
What has the NTA said on the NEET 2026 controversy?
The National Testing Agency (NTA), a day before cancelling the exam on May 11, acknowledged that it was aware of the Rajasthan SOG investigation into alleged irregularities surrounding NEET UG 2026. The agency said it received inputs about alleged malpractice four days after the exam and had shared the information with relevant agencies.
A PG operator in Sikar has also come under scrutiny after investigators allegedly found that he received and forwarded the material before later filing a complaint with the police and the NTA after the exam. Investigators suspect the complaint may have been an attempt to shield himself after fears of exposure grew.