NEET-UG 2026 cancellation: Educator Khan Sir slams NTA, says, ‘students ka confidence toda ja rha hai’

The cancellation of NEET UG 2026 has sparked widespread anger among aspirants across the country, with teachers questioning the credibility and efficiency of the National Testing Agency (NTA).

On Tuesday, the NTA cancelled the May 3 NEET-UG 2026 examination following allegations of a paper leak, while the government directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct a detailed investigation into the alleged irregularities.

Educator Khan Sir told ANI, “This is nothing short of playing games with the lives of lakhs of students. Their confidence is being shattered, and the most unfortunate part of this whole situation is that just two years ago, in 2024, the exact same incidents occurred. A CBI inquiry was conducted, yet it yielded absolutely no results. The most astonishing thing is that no government agency detected or reported this paper leak; rather, it was the students themselves who were the first to alert the government to the situation…”

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For 17-year-old Nikhil Kumar from Delhi's Chirag Dilli, the NTA's decision meant losing what he believed would have been a good score. “My expected score was around 540, which would have given me a good chance. Now, we will have to reappear for the exam while trying to keep our preparation at its best,” Kumar told PTI.

Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday evening took custody of a man from Nashik, Maharashtra, in connection with the alleged NEET UG 2026 paper leak case, PTI reported, citing an official.

Earlier in the day, Crime Branch Unit 2 of the Nashik Police detained 30-year-old Shubham Khairnar, a resident of Nandgaon in Nashik district, following a request from the Rajasthan Police. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police Kirankumar Chauhan, Khairnar was apprehended from the Indiranagar area of Nashik city.

Several candidates have also demanded that the medical entrance examination be conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, instead.

Special Operations Group (SOG) IG Ajay Pal Lamba said, “More than 150 candidates, along with their friends and guardians, were interrogated. After questioning, it became clear that the examination paper had been circulated in Rajasthan before the exam began. One individual from Haryana was identified as the one who sent the paper. During interrogation, it was found that he had received the paper from Nashik in Maharashtra. After all this information was shared with the NTA, the Government of India decided to cancel the NEET examination. Following that decision, the CBI took over the case. The CBI team is in contact with the SOG, and its members have already arrived here. They have been briefed about all the questioning and investigation carried out by the police so far.”

Speaking to ANI over a Zoom call, Singh said the preliminary verification by the agency had not found any instance of the complete question paper being available on social media channels.

"No, the entire paper was never available on Telegram or any other channel as far as we have verified the reports," Singh said.

Explaining the nature of the alleged breach, the NTA DG said the issue involved a limited set of questions that appeared in a circulating "guess paper" and matched portions of the actual examination.

He also said the agency aims to conduct the exam at the earliest to avoid disruption to the academic calendar and medical college admissions.

Among the key recommendations being considered were minimising the outsourcing of staff and examination centres, conducting maximum entrance examinations online and adopting hybrid examination models where complete transition to computer-based testing may not be feasible.

The panel also proposed capping the number of attempts in major entrance examinations, including NEET, to streamline the process and reduce pressure on the system.

The NEET-UG 2026 was held on May 3 across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad. The examination was organised by the NTA for nearly 23 lakh registered candidates.