Mumbai: The NEET paper leak is an extremely serious matter, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Wednesday.“The police are cooperating with the CBI. We want the investigations to reach to the root of the matter and every person involved must be caught and strict action taken,” he said.The CM said he was grateful to the Centre and the agency conducting NEET for taking the allegations seriously, stressing that students who work hard for the examination should not suffer because of irregularities such as paper leaks.“Our children study so hard and any paper leak is absolutely wrong,” he said.The NTA cancelled the NEET-UG 2026 examination on May 12 following a major paper leak that originated in Nashik. Over 22 lakh students are affected by the cancellation. The main accused, Shubham Khairnar, a 30-year-old BAMS student from Indiranagar in Nashik, was detained by the CBI for allegedly buying the paper for Rs 10 lakh and selling it for Rs 15 lakh.Meanwhile, Pune police detained a woman, Manisha Waghmare, from Bibwewadi, and another suspect, Dhananjay Lokhande, from Rahuri. Both have been accused of facilitating the distribution of the leaked paper, which was allegedly shared via encrypted messaging applications like Telegram.
