NEW DELHI — Over the last five years, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG)—India’s single gateway to undergraduate medical admissions—has been rocked by repeated allegations of paper leaks and examination fraud. These scandals have triggered nationwide student demonstrations, political debates, and Supreme Court interventions.
Here is a detailed breakdown of the three major NEET-UG paper leak instances recorded over the past five years:
- NEET-UG 2021: The Solver Gangs & Invigilator Leak Racket
The Incident: On September 12, 2021, while over 16 lakh students appeared for the exam, local police forces in Jaipur (Rajasthan) and Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) unraveled a coordinated cheating syndicate.
Modus Operandi: Photos of question papers were snapped inside exam centers by compromised invigilators immediately after the test began. The images were sent via WhatsApp to “solver gangs” operating in coaching hubs, who solved the papers and transmitted answers back to select candidates using Bluetooth earpieces and proxy candidates.
Outcome: Police arrested several key operatives, impersonators, and candidates across multiple states. While local FIRs were filed and candidates debarred, a nationwide re-examination was not conducted.
2. NEET-UG 2024: The Oasis School Theft & Patna Racket
The Incident: The May 2024 examination, taken by over 24 lakh aspirants, escalated into a massive national scandal after reports emerged that question papers were leaked hours before the examination in Bihar and Jharkhand.
Modus Operandi: Investigations revealed that paper envelopes were tampered with at Oasis School in Hazaribagh (Jharkhand). Solved copies were provided to a selected group of candidates gathered at a play school in Patna, Bihar, where they memorized answers overnight. Burnt test papers were later recovered by the Bihar Police’s Economic Offences Unit (EOU).
Outcome: The Supreme Court ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe, leading to arrests across multiple states. While the court declined a full re-test due to a lack of evidence of a systemic breach across all centers, a re-test was conducted for specific affected candidate groups.
3. NEET-UG 2026: The Digital Leak & Official Cancellation
The Incident: The NEET-UG exam held on May 3, 2026, for 22.7 lakh candidates was compromised following intelligence indicating that question papers and precise “guess papers” were leaked digitally prior to the test.
Modus Operandi: The Special Operations Group (SOG) traced the origin of the leak to a printing facility in Jaipur and network hubs in Nashik and Sikar. Papers were circulated digitally across messaging channels for large sums, leading to direct overlaps between leaked materials and the official exam paper.
Outcome: In a historic move, the National Testing Agency (NTA) officially voided the exam and announced a complete nationwide re-examination under CBI oversight.
