National Testing Agency (NTA) has canceled the NEET 2026 exam scheduled to be held on May 3. New exam dates will be announced soon. NTA said that the examination has been canceled after getting the approval of the Central Government. A “solver gang” was active in Bihar during the NEET exam; There was a deal to get one seat for ₹60 lakh. The police had exposed the entire conspiracy even before the examination. The mastermind of this operation was an MBBS student. Nalanda police arrested seven members of the gang.
ID card found during vehicle checking
On the night of May 2, police from Pawapuri police station in Nalanda arrested three people who were found in two luxury vehicles (a Scorpio-N and a Brezza) during routine vehicle checking. The main accused in this case was Avadhesh Kumar, who is an MBBS student of VIMS Medical College. After searching his mobile phone, many important clues were found, which exposed the entire criminal network.
Seven members of an organized gang were arrested who were helping candidates crack the NEET exam by sending proxy “solvers”. Based on information received from the kingpin (who had already been arrested), the police conducted raids in several districts, including Muzaffarpur, and arrested four more accused. Till now, a total of seven criminals have been arrested in this case and sent to jail.
Deals worth ₹50-60 lakh to send solver
Police investigation revealed that this gang was extorting ₹50 lakh to ₹60 lakh from candidates to pass the NEET exam. Of this amount, an advance amount of ₹1.5 lakh to ₹2 lakh was taken upfront. Thereafter, arrangements were made to send a proxy “solver” to take the examination at the designated examination center in place of the original candidate.
Raids in many districts including Muzaffarpur
Based on clues from the mastermind, police conducted raids in several districts including Aurangabad, Jamui and Muzaffarpur and arrested four more accused. All these people had to solve the exam; But, with the arrest of the main accused, the criminal conspiracy of the entire gang was foiled. 4 people arrested, including doctor’s son
The four accused arrested by the police include Harshraj, son of Dr. Naresh Kumar Das of Sitamarhi and Manoj Kumar of Muzaffarpur. Apart from this, Gaurav Kumar of Bochahan and Subhash Kumar of Hathori police station area have also been detained. All four have been arrested and sent to jail.
Settings in lieu of advance payment
During interrogation, the accused admitted that an advance payment of ₹1.5 lakh to ₹2 lakh was made to the kingpin before the examination. Deals worth up to ₹50-60 lakh were made to ensure the success of the candidate in the examination. Ujjwal Raj alias ‘Raja Babu’, Awadhesh Kumar and Aman Kumar Singh played important roles in this syndicate.
All were sent to jail; Search for fugitives continues
The arrested accused were produced in the court on May 5 and thereafter sent to judicial custody. Police said that raids are being conducted to nab other accused, who are currently absconding. More revelations are expected about other people associated with this network.
Why was the exam cancelled?
**Investigation started on May 8:** NTA (National Testing Agency) clarified that on May 8, 2026, certain investigations related to this matter were handed over to central agencies to ensure fairness and security of the examination process. Now, after information received from the investigating agencies and approval from the government, NTA has decided to cancel the NEET (UG) exam held on May 3, 2026 and reschedule it. The dates of re-examination will be announced later. Based on the findings presented by the investigating agencies, it was decided that the ongoing examination process cannot be allowed to proceed further. Therefore, to maintain transparency, the examination will be conducted once again.
**Handwritten ‘guess papers’ found in Rajasthan:** NEET UG 2026 exam was conducted on May 3 across the country. There is a suspicion that the exam paper was leaked even before the actual exam. In Rajasthan, hand-written ‘guess papers’ were recovered from several students, the questions of which were found to match the real exam papers. On 10 May, based on intelligence, Rajasthan Special Operations Group (SOG) detained 13 suspects from Dehradun, Sikar and Jhunjhunu. Those arrested also include a career counselor associated with a coaching institute in Sikar.
Questions worth 600 marks out of 720 were identical: The investigation revealed that questions worth 600 marks out of the total 720 marks of the exam were repeated. Students of Sikar faced problems two days before the examination. It is noteworthy that a student studying MBBS in a college in Kerala had sent a “guess paper” to his friend in Sikar on May 1.
Fees will be refunded; No need to register again
NTA has announced that students will not need to re-register for the exam. Apart from this, there will be no change in the already decided examination centres. New admit cards will also be issued for the re-examination. Also, the examination fees of the students who appeared for the examination will be refunded.
Paper leak incident in 2024
In 2024, NEET UG exam was also canceled due to paper leak at some centres. This exam was originally scheduled to be held on May 5, 2025. On 6 May, NTA initially denied reports of paper leak. Later, investigation was conducted in Bihar (Patna) and Jharkhand (Hazaribagh). The investigation found evidence of paper leak and led to several arrests. However, the Supreme Court refused to cancel the entire examination; Instead, the exam was re-conducted for 1,539 candidates at some centres. Apart from the allegations of paper leak, 67 students scored 720 out of 720, and many toppers appeared from the same exam centre, leading to other major controversies.
National Testing Agency (NTA) has canceled the NEET 2026 exam held on May 3. New dates of examination will be announced soon. NTA has said that the decision to cancel the examination has been taken after the approval of the Central Government.
The Government of India has decided that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will investigate this matter, so that the allegations made can be fully investigated. NTA will extend full cooperation to the Bureau and provide all materials, records and assistance necessary for the investigation.
NTA has informed that a press release regarding NEET (UG) 2026 examination was earlier issued on May 10, 2026. The agency has now informed students, parents and the general public about some new decisions taken in this regard.
