New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) National Testing Agency (NTA) Director General Abhishek Singh said on Tuesday that the decision to cancel the NEET-UG 2026 examination was taken after a preliminary investigation, triggered by a whistleblower complaint, found substance in allegations of a question paper leak.

Addressing the media in the national capital, Singh said the Union government and the NTA received information on May 7 regarding possible irregularities in the examination process.

“As per the information received by the government and the NTA on May 7, and based on inputs provided by a whistleblower, we conducted an inquiry and investigation. During the investigation, some truth was found in the allegations,” the NTA Director General added.

Singh said that during preliminary verification, investigators found that some questions circulating before the examination matched the actual question paper.

He added that the probe revealed that the integrity of the ongoing examination process had been compromised, making it unfair for sincere students who had prepared honestly for the highly competitive medical entrance examination.

“It was observed that the ongoing examination process was not fair to the sincere and hardworking students who had prepared with dedication. Therefore, we decided to cancel the exam and conduct it again,” he said.

The NTA Director General also added that the matter has now been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a detailed probe into the origins and extent of the alleged leak.

“What the system is, what flaws are there in the system, this will become clear after the inquiry. If there is any such process in the system because of which this problem happens, then it will definitely be reviewed,” he said.

He clarified that the NTA’s role was limited to verifying whether the complaint had merit, while the larger investigation into the network behind the alleged paper leak would now be carried out by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

“From the day we got the information on May 7, we only examined whether there was truth in the complaint or not. What was the origin, where the fault lied — this work belongs to the CBI,” Singh said.

He added that the central probe agency would investigate how the alleged paper leak originated, who all were involved, how many people were linked to the case, and in how many states across the country the irregularities may have spread.

“The CBI will properly carry out this work and bring before everyone what happened, where it started from, who all were involved, how many people were involved, and in how many states in the country it happened,” he said.

The cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 has triggered widespread outrage among students, parents, coaching institutes and political parties, with many raising concerns over repeated controversies surrounding national-level competitive examinations.

–IANS

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