CBI probes Latur hospital link in NEET 2026 paper leak case

Mumbai: A hospital in Latur has come under the scanner of the CBI in the ongoing investigation into the alleged NEET UG 2026 chemistry paper leak.

Investigators are examining whether exam questions were first circulated through closed-door sessions held on its premises nearly two weeks before the examination.

It is being probed whether the arrested retired chemistry professor may have memorised the NEET-UG 2026 chemistry paper during the confidential Marathi translation process for the National Testing Agency (NTA), and later shared the questions through offline sessions, instead of any digital breach into the NTA system.

The Latur hospital is a key focus of the investigation, as officials are trying to determine whether it was one of the first points from where the leaked chemistry paper was allegedly circulated, with the accused professor allegedly dictating questions and answers to students during closed-door sessions.

According to the doctor’s statement reviewed by The Indian Express, at least two such sessions were reportedly held at the hospital between April 21 and 23, nearly two weeks before the examination. The doctor is under investigation for allegedly arranging the meetings and linking retired professor with parents who were seeking access to NEET questions for their children.

As per The Indian Express, the investigators are also checking whether a session held between April 21 and 23 was attended by the arrested Latur-based coaching institute's director's son, who appeared for NEET this year and is suspected of accessing the chemistry questions during the meeting.

The CBI is also probing whether parts of the material were later turned into handwritten notes and converted into PDF files, which were circulated as “guess papers” through several WhatsApp-linked numbers before the May 3 examination.

Sources familiar with the probe said investigators identified circulation of the handwritten PDF "guess paper" on more than 125 WhatsApp-linked mobile numbers before the examination.

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 due to paper leak allegations and subsequently announced the re-examination on June 21, 2026.

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.

It has been reported that the investigators are not treating the case as a digital breach of the NTA system. Instead, they are probing whether Kulkarni may have memorised the chemistry paper during the confidential translation process and later distributed it offline for money. Sources said investigators are also probing whether Kulkarni had access to multiple chemistry paper sets during the confidential translation process before one final paper was selected for the examination.

Along with this, the investigators are now probing the circulation trail of the material and examining how many students may have eventually received it before the examination.

Also read- CBI arrests Latur paediatrician for allegedly buying NEET 2026 leaked paper