NEET 2026 ‘paper leak’: 120 questions from a guess paper, what Rahul Gandhi alleges, what probe says so far | Explained

INdia's largest undergrad medical spellbind test — NEET UG 2026 — is at the centre of a disceptation o'er alleged irregularities, less than two years after the NEET UG 2024 scandal that triggered nationwide protests, Supreme Court hearings, and a CBI investigation.With just over 1 lakh MBBS seats available against over 22 lakh applicants, a difference of a few marks determines whether a student secures a government college seat, pays crores at a private college, or gets no seat at all.Here is everything you need to know.What is NEET UG?The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET UG, is the single gateway to admission into MBBS, BDS, BAMS, BHMS, BUMS, and other undergraduate medical programmes across India. Every student who wishes to study medicine in India — whether at AIIMS, a government medical college, or a private institution — must clear this exam.This year, 22.79 lakh students appeared for it. The exam was held on May 3, 2026, from 2 to 5 pm, in pen-and-paper mode, across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad, covering more than 5,400 centres. What's the ‘leak’?The Rajasthan Police's Special Operations Group (SOG) began investigating reports that a handwritten document, described as a "guess paper", containing exam questions had been circulating among students before the examination.The SOG confirmed it is examining a document containing approximately 410 questions. SOG Additional Director General Vishal Bansal stated that over 100 questions from the Biology and Chemistry sections combined showed "striking similarities" to the actual exam paper, with roughly 120 alleged matches across those two subjects.Separately, sources linked to the probe told media outlets that the similarities could account for nearly 600 of the 720 total marks.Bansal said the document had reportedly been circulating among students "as early as 15 days to a month" before the exam. A report in news agency PTI, citing police sources, said the circulation could have started 42 hours before the exam via WhatsApp.How ‘guess paper’ spread via WhatsAppThe probe so far says the “guess” document originated from a Churu (Rajasthan)-based MBBS student currently enrolled at a medical college in Kerala, who reportedly sent it to an associate in Sikar — a major coaching centre hub in Rajasthan — on May 1.From there, a paying guest accommodation owner reportedly distributed it to students at the facility, after which it spread through coaching networks and messaging apps.Recovered chat histories reportedly carried the "forwarded many times" label.The material was reportedly sold for as much as ₹5 lakh two days before the exam, with the price falling to around ₹30,000 on the eve of the test, sources in the investigation team told news agencies.As of May 11, thirteen suspects have been detained from Dehradun in Uttarakhand, and Sikar and Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan.Is this officially a leak? What NTA, police sayNeither the SOG nor the NTA has used the phrase "paper leak" in any official statement.Bansal described the material as a "guess paper" or test series and said the investigation is focused on determining whether any "cheating or criminal activity" occurred.The NTA referred only to "alleged malpractice activity" and “alleged irregularities”. The word "leak" appears in political statements and public discourse, but has not been used by investigating or examining authorities.The NTA issued a statement saying the exam was conducted under full security protocol. It said question papers were transported in GPS-tracked vehicles with unique watermark identifiers, examination halls were monitored through AI-assisted CCTV surveillance, biometric verification of every candidate was conducted, and 5G signal jammers were deployed at all centres.The NTA said it received inputs regarding alleged “malpractice” on May 7 — four days after the exam, and escalated the matter to central agencies on May 8 for independent verification.It said it "will not pre-judge the inquiry, nor characterise its likely outcome" and confirmed it is providing examination data and technical assistance to investigating agencies.What Leader of Opposition saidCongress MP Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, posted on X on May 11 stating that questions were being sold on WhatsApp "42 hours before the exam" and that the future of 22 lakh children “was openly auctioned off in the marketplace”.He alleged that in 10 years there had been 89 paper leaks and 48 re-exams across various competitive examinations, and said "no one poses a greater threat to the dreams of India's youth than the (Narendra) Modi government."His figure of "89 paper leaks in 10 years" refers to leaks across multiple competitive examinations in India, not NEET alone.Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge separately stated that at least four NEET papers have been compromised — in 2026, 2024, 2021, and 2016. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asked what use the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act — passed in 2024 — has been if irregularities continue.A 2024 echoIn 2024, a paper leak was confirmed in Bihar in NEET UG. The CBI arrested multiple individuals and established that papers had been sold for ₹30-50 lakh per candidate.An unprecedented 67 students scored a perfect 720/720. Grace marks awarded to 1,563 students were subsequently cancelled by the Supreme Court. The NTA initially denied irregularities. Its chief was eventually replaced and a review committee was set up.This year's NTA chief, Abhishek Singh, was appointed after the 2024 controversy and had announced a "zero-error, zero-tolerance" approach, overseeing the security measures deployed in 2026.What comes nextThe answer key to the paper has been released and the objection challenge window is expected to open shortly. A re-examination remains a possibility depending on the scale of what the investigation confirms.