How Churu’s ‘guess paper’ led to cancellation of NEET-UG, India’s largest entrance exam

Days after more than 22 thousand students appeared NEET-UG 2026 Under tight security, the exam was canceled due to allegations linked to leak of ‘guess paper’. The document, which was said to have been shared across training networks and WhatsApp groups ahead of the test, has become the focus of an investigation by central agencies.

The handwritten document containing approximately 410 questions was distributed The students took the exam ahead of the exam, Rajasthan Police said, according to news agency ANI.

“There is a guess sheet containing nearly 410 questions. Of these, nearly 120 questions allegedly emerged from it,” Vishal Bansal, Additional Director General of Special Operations Bureau of Rajasthan Police, told ANI.

Department of Chemistry in NEET has 45 questions, but the test is said to have used four different sets of question papers. SOG later said that more than 100 questions from the biology and chemistry departments combined showed “striking similarities” to the actual paper.

Officials associated with the investigation told ANI that the similarities could account for nearly 600 of the total 720 exam marks.

“This guess sheet is reported to have been circulating among students early on; it started reaching them as early as 15 days to a month before the actual exam. We are investigating on the basis of the guess sheet and it is also available in the open domain,” Bansal added.

From there, the paying guest accommodation owner allegedly distributed it to students staying at the facility. The materials then reportedly spread through training networks and WhatsApp groups. Investigators said the recovered chats were marked as “forwarded multiple times.”

It may have been circulated 42 hours before the exam, a PTI report citing police sources said.

The document was allegedly sold for a sum of $5 thousand two days before the exam. Sources in the investigation team told news agencies that the price dropped to about $30,000 on the eve of the test.

By May 11, thirteen suspects had been arrested from Dehradun in Uttarakhand, Sikar and Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan.

The examination halls were monitored through closed circuit television systems supported by artificial intelligence from the central control room. Biometric verification has been conducted for each candidate and 5G signal jammers have been deployed at the centres.

The agency said it received inputs on the alleged malpractice on May 7, four days after the exam, and referred the matter to central agencies on May 8 for “independent verification and necessary action.”

Neither the NTA nor the Rajasthan SOG has officially used the term “paper leakage”. Bansal described the material as a “guess paper” or “test series”, while the NTA referred to “alleged malpractice activity” and “alleged irregularities”.

The agency initially said it “would not prejudge the investigation, nor describe its likely outcomes,” but on May 12, the examination was cancelled. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has now taken over the investigation.

After the cancellation, the students said “Dreams have been crushed” by the “corrupt BJP regime”.

He also claimed that India has witnessed 89 paper leaks and 48 retests across competitive exams in the last 10 years. This number refers to multiple exams across sectors, not just NEET.

The 2026 exam was conducted on May 3 in pen and paper from 2 pm to 5 pm, with 22.79 lakh candidates appearing in 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad.

(With ANI and PTI inputs)