NEET-UG probe: CBI arrests 5 persons; more arrests likely
New Delhi: The CBI has arrested five persons and is conducting searches at multiple locations across the country in connection with the NEET UG paper leak case as the agency intensified its investigation, officials said Wednesday.Among those arrested are three individuals from Jaipur: Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal, and Dinesh Biwal, along with Yash Yadav from Gurugram and Shubham Khairnar from Nashik. Several other suspects are being questioned in various cities and may be arrested later, they added.
Khairnar (30) is being brought to Delhi for further questioning after a local magistrate court granted the CBI a transit remand for him. He was detained by the Nashik Police on Tuesday following a request from the Rajasthan Police.After taking over the investigation on Tuesday, the CBI is conducting searches at multiple locations across the country based on emerging leads, they said.
The CBI has seized several digital devices, including mobile phones and laptops, from the suspects, which will be sent for forensic examination to trace messaging applications that may have been used to circulate the examination papers.According to agency sources, the CBI is coordinating with the Special Operations Group (SOG), Rajasthan, which had conducted a preliminary enquiry in the case.
“The CBI is pursuing all leads relating to the alleged paper leak through extensive technical and forensic analysis and remains committed to conducting a comprehensive, impartial and professional investigation into the matter,” an official in the know of developments said.The CBI on Wednesday also visited the National Testing Agency (NTA) headquarters to collect documents related to the NEET UG examination, which was cancelled following allegations of paper leak, officials said.
The team also spoke to officials involved in the examination process, they said. The arrests of the suspects from Rajasthan turned into a political slugfest, with Congress leader and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot linking one of the accused with the ruling BJP, while the latter strongly denied the claims.
Gehlot said the accused he mentioned was identified as Dinesh Biwal. “The accused arrested in the NEET paper leak case, Dinesh Biwal, is a functionary of the Bharatiya Janata Party,” he claimed in a post on X in Hindi.Gehlot shared a photo of a poster featuring Biwal, portraying him as the district secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) in Jaipur Rural. However, BJP state vice president Mukesh Dadhich strongly denied these claims, stating that Biwal holds no position in the party.
Biwal hails from Jamwaramgarh in Jaipur, and his family members claim that he and his brother were detained by the police. They maintain that both are innocent and have been falsely implicated in the case.The SOG has detained several individuals from various locations, including Sikar, Jaipur Rural (including Jamwaramgarh), Alwar, and surrounding areas.
The CBI had registered an FIR and formed teams to probe the NEET UG alleged paper leak case, which resulted in the cancellation of the paper held on May 3.The NEET-UG 2026 was conducted across 551 Indian cities and at 14 overseas centres. Nearly 23 lakh candidates had registered for the test, which was administered by the NTA at centres across the country.
According to the NTA, information regarding alleged malpractice was received on the evening of May 7, four days after the examination was held. The NTA said the inputs were escalated to central agencies the following morning for “independent verification and necessary action”.The Rajasthan Police’s SOG claimed that a “guess paper” for chemistry, allegedly circulated among students ahead of the examination, had approximately 410 questions, including roughly 120 questions that appeared in the test.
