After Pune professor, CBI arrests biology expert from NTA paper-setting panel

New Delhi: The investigation into the NEET UG 2026 paper leak scandal has taken another shocking turn with the CBI arresting a biology lecturer who was part of the National Testing Agency's (NTA) paper-setting committee for exam held on May 3.

This marks another major breakthrough in the high-profile investigation into the compromised medical entrance examination after the CBI arrested a Pune-based professor, alleged to be the kingpin of the NEET UG 2026 paper leak racket.

Medical Dialogues recently reported that Professor, a chemistry expert from Latur, had allegedly been associated with the panel responsible for setting NEET question papers for several years. Investigators claimed he used his access to confidential examination material to conduct special coaching sessions at his residence, where students were allegedly given questions, answer options and correct responses that later “exactly matched” the actual NEET-UG 2026 question paper held on May 3.

The recent arrest of the biology lecturer was made based on questioning of the earlier arrested professor and other accused in the paper leak case. The biology lecturer was arrested after being questioned by the agency at its headquarters, PTI has reported. 

She was allegedly involved in the National Eligibility Entrance Test (Undergraduate) examination process and was appointed by the NTA as an expert. Officials said she had complete access to the Botany and Zoology question papers.

She is alleged to have mobilised prospective NEET examination candidates in April 2026 through another individual Pune, who was arrested on May 14, and conducted special coaching classes for these students at her Pune residence.

It is alleged that the accused dictated leaked questions and responses to select students and took lakhs of rupees as fees. Most of these questions tallied with the questions that appeared in the examination on May 3. The NEET exam was cancelled following allegations of a paper leak.

The CBI had arrested Professor, a domain expert in chemistry from Latur, on Friday. Kulkarni, for years, served on panels involved in setting the NEET question paper.

Exploiting his privileged access to confidential material, he allegedly hosted special coaching classes at his house in the last week of April and dictated to his students questions, options and answers which appeared in the NEET UG paper on May 3.

“During the last week of April, 2026, he had mobilised students, with the help of another accused, namely ***, who was arrested on May 14 by CBI,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

Students allegedly paid several lakh rupees to attend the sessions where they wrote the questions down in their notebooks and later “tallied exactly” with the actual NEET-UG paper conducted on May 3, the spokesperson said.

The federal agency has registered an FIR and formed teams to probe the alleged paper leak that resulted in the cancellation of the exam held on May 3.

NEET cancelled

The NEET UG 2026 exam was conducted on May 3 by the National Testing Agency and was held from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM in pen-and-paper mode. Over 22.7 lakh aspirants appeared for the examination this year. It took place across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad, covering over 5,400 centres.

However, the NTA on May 12, 2026, declared the cancellation of the examination held on May 3 and subsequently announced the re-examination on June 21, 2026.

The following decision triggered anxiety and anger among lakhs of medical aspirants across the country, many of whom said they were feeling shocked, stressed and uncertain about their future. While some aspirants supported the decision to cancel the examination in the interest of fairness, others said that they are being forced to suffer because of the actions of a few people.

The NTA had further informed that the Government of India decided to refer the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation for a comprehensive inquiry into the allegations after it declared to re-conduct the NEET UG 2026 examination soon. Based on the centre's direction, the CBI registered an FIR in the case.

This came in the backdrop of the probe by the Rajasthan Police Special Operations Group, which reportedly found a “guess paper” containing more than 100 questions similar to those asked in the NEET UG examination. The question paper series under scrutiny has been described as a “guess paper” which reportedly contained around 410 questions. Out of these, nearly 120 questions are alleged to have appeared in the Biology and Chemistry sections of the examination.

The investigation found that the leaked papers were circulated through WhatsApp and Telegram groups ahead of the NEET UG 2026 examination held on May 3. According to reports, the matter came to light after a Sikar-based MBBS student studying at a medical college in Kerala allegedly shared a PDF of a “guess paper” with his father on May 2. The father, who runs a PG accommodation facility in Sikar, reportedly circulated the document further to a chemistry and a biology teacher who identified the similarities in questions.

As the investigation widened, Rajasthan SOG and later the CBI uncovered what officials described as a multi-state network involving students, coaching-linked persons and middlemen. The alleged leak reportedly spread from Kerala and Rajasthan to Haryana, Maharashtra, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and other states.

Seeking action, the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), the Indian Medical Association Junior Doctors' Network (IMA-JDN) and United Doctors' Front (UDF) filed separate petitions before the Supreme Court demanding the replacement of NTA and strict action against the repeated paper leak incidents.

The issue also led to massive protests and condemnation by the medical fraternity, who blamed the NTA and the government for failing to prevent another paper leak controversy in 2026. They have criticised the authorities for playing with the future of over 22 lakh aspirants who appeared for the exam and are again forced to re-appear.

Also read- CBI arrests Pune professor alleged to be kingpin in NEET 2026 paper leak