BAMS student held in Nashik for paper leak
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken custody of Shubham Khairnar, a 30-year-old Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) student from Nashik in connection with the NEET-UG paper leak.
Khairnar was detained earlier in the day by the Nashik Crime Branch Unit 2 from the Indiranagar area of the city. He was reportedly on his way to a temple when police picked him up around noon, acting on specific inputs from Rajasthan Police's Special Operations Group (SOG). A four-member CBI team arrived at the Nashik Crime Branch office in the evening and formally took him into custody for detailed interrogation.
Investigators allege that Khairnar played a key role in the inter-State racket. According to police, he obtained a physical copy of a controversial "guess paper" or question-bank containing 120-140 questions from the actual NEET-UG 2026 exam, a few days before the May 3 examination. He allegedly purchased it for around Rs 10 lakh from a person in Pune and then forwarded a soft copy to a buyer in Haryana for Rs 15 lakh.
The "guess paper" is at the heart of the scandal that led the National Testing Agency (NTA) to cancel the entire NEET-UG 2026 exam.
Khairnar, originally from Nandgaon taluka in Nashik district, lives with his family in Indiranagar. Police noted that he had altered his appearance, including cutting his hair, in an apparent bid to evade detection, but was identified through older photographs and technical surveillance.
The CBI has registered an FIR for offences including criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust, theft, destruction of evidence, and violations under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024. At least nine people have been arrested across states so far, with nearly 45 individuals detained for questioning in a multi-state network spanning Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, and others.
The NTA announced the cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 on Tuesday and confirmed that a re-examination will be held on dates to be notified later. The case was handed over to the CBI to ensure a thorough probe into the leak and restore faith in the examination system.
