A medical student from Nashik has come under the spotlight in the NEET-UG question paper leak investigation. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is now leading the probe after taking charge from Rajasthan Police on Tuesday.

WhatsApp group ‘Private Mafia’ at the centre of leak

Officials from the Rajasthan Special Operations Group (SOG), who initially handled the case, found that the leaked question paper was circulating in a WhatsApp group named ‘Private Mafia’, The Indian Express reported. According to investigators, members had paid amounts starting from Rs 5,000 to join the group. Despite administrators’ instructions not to forward the paper, it was widely shared.

Preliminary findings suggested that the paper may have been leaked from Nashik in Maharashtra, the report added.

Who is suspect Shubham Khairnar?

Nashik Police have arrested Shubham Khairnar, a 30-year-old Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) student. Officials said Khairnar allegedly obtained the question paper days before the exam and circulated it further, the IE report said.

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Nashik police told IE that Khairnar, who studied in Bhopal last year and currently resides in Nashik with his family, is suspected to be part of the paper leak syndicate. He has now been handed over to the CBI. Police noted that the accused changed his appearance by cutting his hair to avoid identification but was traced through technical analysis.

How was the paper leaked?

Investigators told IE that Khairnar allegdly received a physical copy of the question paper from an associate in Pune. He then converted it into a soft copy and shared it with others. Officials are examining whether the shared version was the actual question paper or a disguised “guess paper”.

Police suspect he purchased the paper for around Rs 10 lakh and sold it for Rs 15 lakh. The leaked content eventually reached students and career counsellors in multiple states, including Gurgaon, Rajasthan, Kerala, Bihar, Uttarakhand, and Jammu & Kashmir, the IE report said.

The investigation has also led SOG teams to Sikar, a prominent coaching hub in Rajasthan. Officials revealed that an MBBS student from Rajasthan’s Shekhawati region, currently studying in Kerala, allegedly shared the paper with his father, who runs a paying-guest facility. It was then circulated further.

Massive crackdown underway

SOG Inspector General Ajay Pal Lamba told IE that over 150 candidates, along with their friends and parents, have been questioned so far. The SOG has submitted a list of around 150 students and 70 parents who allegedly received the paper to the CBI. Additionally, nearly two dozen key suspects have been transferred to the central agency.

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Lamba clarified that while the paper reached Rajasthan, it did not originate there. He stated that it first surfaced near Gurgaon before spreading to the state, and there is currently no evidence linking it to previously known Rajasthan-based leak gangs.

Whistleblower complaint ignored initially

Citing sources, the IE report said that a whistleblower in Rajasthan had first approached local police with information about the leak but received no immediate response. He later wrote to the National Testing Agency (NTA), which prompted the SOG to launch a formal investigation.

The whistleblower himself is now under scrutiny, as authorities suspect he may have received and circulated the paper before filing the complaint to avoid detection.