Nashik doc held for NEET paper leak secured admission in MP varsity, didn’t turn up

Bhopal: The arrest of a Nashik-based doctor by Rajasthan police in connection with the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case has brought Madhya Pradesh’s Sehore district under the scanner after it emerged that the accused took admission in a private university there.

Investigators are questioning accused Dr Shubham Khairnar, who was arrested from Nashik in connection with alleged irregularities linked to the NEET examination held on May 3 this year. Sources said police are probing possible links and networks connected to the case, including the accused’s academic background and past associations.



Shubham reportedly secured admission in the BAMS course at Shri Satya Sai University in Sehore district in 2021. Following reports linking the accused to the institution, speculation grew over whether any local connection to the alleged paper leak racket existed in Madhya Pradesh as well.

University authorities, however, maintained that the accused was never an active student on campus after taking admission. When contacted over the issue, the university administration said that accused took admission there but did not turn up after admission formalities.

“On the basis of the NEET score he secured admission here in 2021 in the BAMS course, but after taking admission he never turned up. There has been no communication from him after taking admission, he never came after that,” university’s vice-chancellor Mukesh Tiwari told TOI.

Officials at the university said the accused neither attended classes nor appeared in examinations after enrolment. Meanwhile, the probe into the alleged NEET paper leak has now been taken over by the CBI, which is investigating the larger network and possible interstate links behind the alleged malpractice.