Nearly 23 lakh students, three suicides and nine arrests — the NEET-UG 2026 ‘paper leak’ row continues to spiral as the Opposition demands that Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan be sacked over the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the medical examination.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) cancelled the National Eligibility cum Entrance Exam (Undergraduate) held on May 3 amid allegations of irregularities. Nearly 23 lakh candidates had registered for the test, which was administered by the NTA across the country.
The re-exam has been scheduled for June 21.
Here’s all the latest you need to know:
1. As of May 17, nine people have been arrested by the CBI in connection with the NEET-UG 2026 ‘paper leak’.
Those arrested are:
> Dhananjay Lokhande
> Shubham Khairnar
> Mangilal Biwal
> Vikas Biwal
> Dinesh Biwal
> Yash Yadav
> Manisha Waghmare
> PV Kulkarni
> Manisha Mandhare
2. The Rouse Avenue court in Delhi on Sunday remanded Manisha Mandhare, a botany expert and NTA panellist, to 14 days of CBI custody in connection with the NEET UG Exam Paper leak case.
Mandhare allegedly had conspired with other co-accused persons, including Manisha Waghmare and Prahlad Vittal Rao Kulkarni to leak questions and content to students for a substantial monetary gain.
3. On May 16, a Rouse Avenue court granted 10 days’ custody of Manisha Waghmare and Prahalad Kulkarni to the CBI .
The CBI said that Prahalad Kulkarni is a retired teacher of Chemistry who distributed the exam paper to various people through Manisha Waghmare. She gave the examination paper to Dhananjay Lokhande of Pune and was in contact with him. They are from Pune, Maharashtra.
4. On Friday, the court remanded Dhananjay Lokhande for six days of CBI custody in the NEET UG exam paper leak case. The other five accused are also in a seven-day CBI custody. All Accused will be produced before the court on May 22.
The agency had said that the accused Dhananjay Nivrutti Lokhande, who is known to Shubham, collected NEET examination, 2026 material from co-accused Manisha Waghmare, who is a resident of Pune.
The CBI had further said that Lokhande, after receiving the said NEET examination paper, 2026, further transmitted it to the accused Shubham Madhukar Khairnar. On April 24, Yash Yadav received PDF files of leaked question papers from Shubham Madhukar Khairnar through Telegram.
5. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday why he was not sacking Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan despite repeated paper leaks in his tenure.
In a post on X, Gandhi also questioned the prime minister’s “silence” on the matter.
“NEET 2024: Paper leaked. Exam not cancelled. Minister did not resign. CBI set up an investigation. A committee was formed.
“NEET 2026: Paper leaked. Exam cancelled. Minister still did not resign. CBI is investigating again. Another committee will be formed,” Gandhi posted on X.
“Mr Modi, the country is asking you some questions – answer them! Why are paper leaks happening repeatedly? Why are you silent time and again on this ‘Pariksha pe Charcha’? Why aren’t you dismissing the education minister who keeps failing repeatedly?” The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha asked, using the hashtag “#SackPradhan”.
6. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi also said, “There are three such suicides that have taken place. And yes, I agree with what Rahul Gandhi is saying. These are murders committed by the government of India…Until we see accountability coming from the top, right from the Education Minister. We are going to see such instances crop up again and again…”
7. Meanwhile, BJP Telangana President N Ramchander Rao said, “… In NEET case, the CBI has taken up the investigation, arresting the kingpins and several other accused.”
“This is undoubtedly a matter of concern for the future of students appearing for the NEET examination. The government acted once the leakage was revealed, ensuring the culprits were brought to justice,” Rao said.
He hit out at the Congress, saying, “Instead of focusing on improving the system and advising the NTA on prevention, the Congress party is unnecessarily misleading students, who have already suffered…”
He said the Congress should not politicise this issue, given that the history of such leakages began during its time. Congress has no moral right to speak on this subject.”
8. Youth Congress workers staged a protest at Chennai Egmore Railway Station over the cancellation of the NEET UG 2026 exam.
A protester told ANI, “… This year’s NEET examination has been cancelled. In the last 10 years under the Modi government, there have been 89 instances of paper leaks. The central government, the National Testing Agency, and the ministries have failed to conduct even a single NEET exam without irregularities…”
9. The Karnataka Youth Congress said they organise a “Raj Bhavan Chalo” protest march in Bengaluru on May 21 over the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak controversy, with several senior Congress leaders expected to participate.
The protest march will begin from Freedom Park at 11 am and proceed towards Raj Bhavan, according to HS Manjunath, President of the Congress Youth Unit.
10. Amid the NEET-UG row, the NTA has appointed several senior officials to key administrative posts at a time when the agency is facing criticism following allegations of a paper leak and the cancellation of the NEET-UG 2026 examination.
According to official orders, Anuja Bapat has been appointed as Joint Secretary in NTA under the Department of Higher Education. Her appointment will be effective from the date she assumes charge, for a tenure of five years or until further orders. The post has been temporarily upgraded from the level of Deputy Secretary/Director to Joint Secretary for an initial period of two years.
