Parents of NEET aspirants under CBI radar find parents paid up to ₹25 crore for leaked documents | Today’s news
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case has revealed a remarkable new development, including the involvement of parents of applicants and an official of the National Testing Agency (NTA). With several parents coming under the CBI’s radar, the scope of the investigation has expanded beyond paper filers, experts and middlemen.
On Saturday and Sunday, eight officers of the investigating agency raided three to four different premises, including a house in Vidyut Nagar area of Nanded and in Latur. The CBI reportedly received a tip that the family had allegedly procured the leaked NEET papers for their daughters. The family is said to have paid anywhere in between ₹5 a ₹10 million to middlemen to obtain questions before the examination, the Hindustan Times reported, citing officials’ suspicions.
All eyes on parents of NEET aspirants
According to investigators, the paper-leaking racket operated with the help of a vast network far beyond the main officials responsible for issuing the documents and the middlemen involved. All eyes are now on the financially well off parents who have reportedly paid high sums to secure medical admissions for their children.
On Friday, a CBI team launched a search operation in Nanded.
Officials informed HT that the CBI questioned the parents of the girl who appeared for NEET-UG on May 3 for more than eight hours. They did not limit the search to questioning; electronic devices such as mobile phones were also scanned for evidence. Officials were reviewing documents and records of communications, including phone calls and messages exchanged between family members, the media reported.
According to officials familiar with the matter, the girl’s father is a businessman who paid ₹10 million – ₹5 thousand intermediaries and ₹5 lakh to an individual for gaining access to the leaked papers. Officials are trying to establish the girl’s connection with a coaching institute in Pune where she reportedly spent about 15 days preparing for the NEET exam.
Private coaching institutes with suspicious ads under scanner
Even the flex banners of private coaching institutes in Nanded have come under suspicion due to claims about the expected performance of students in the exam. AIB coaching displayed banners with the slogan ‘Results Coming’ along with photos of their top performing students.
In an interview with a news website, Atul More of AIB admitted that the girl was a student of a coaching institute. Claiming that the student was not in touch with the institute for the past 15 days, More added, “Yes, she was my student and she repeated NEET this year. She used to score around 400 to 450 marks in our mock tests.”
After searching the residences of another student’s parents in Nanded, the CBI team moved to Latur. Officials suspect that the parents circulated the leaked papers to others to recover some of the money paid. The probe points to the functioning of a well-organized network covering Pune, Latur, Nanded and nearby districts. Officials privy to the matter said some parents allegedly paid amounts in the range ₹10 thousand and ₹25 lakhs for gaining access to the leaked question papers.
Nine accused have been arrested in the case from several locations across India, including Delhi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Nashik, Pune and Ahilyanagar. The CBI is now following the money trail and identifying the beneficiaries who may have knowingly used the leaked investigative material.
