JAIPUR: A 23-year-old NEET aspirant died by suicide in Rajasthan’s Sikar on Friday, days after the cancellation of the NEET-2026 examination amid allegations of a massive paper leak.
The deceased, identified as Pradeep Mahich, allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister’s scarf at his rented accommodation in Sikar’s Jaldhari Nagar area on Piprali Road. Originally from a village in Jhunjhunu district, Pradeep had been preparing for NEET in Sikar for the last three years.
According to family members, Pradeep was expecting to score over 650 marks in NEET-UG 2026, a score they believed could have got him admission to any reputed government medical college. His relatives claim he had been under severe mental trauma ever since the National Testing Agency (NTA) cancelled the examination following the paper leak controversy.
Pradeep's family and members of the local community gathered outside the mortuary of SK Hospital after the incident.
Pradeep, the only son of a financially struggling family, lived in Sikar with his two sisters who were preparing for railway recruitment exams, his father Rajesh Kumar Meghwal said.
According to police and family members, the incident took place on Friday afternoon. Pradeep’s younger sister had gone to coaching classes while his elder sister was in the bathroom, when Pradeep allegedly hanged himself inside the room.
When the elder sister returned, she found him hanging from the ceiling fan. She immediately informed the landlord and alerted the police.
Police personnel reached the spot and rushed Pradeep to SK Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. The police is investigating the matter based on the information provided by the family.
The tragedy comes amid a widening investigation into the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, which has placed Rajasthan’s coaching hub Sikar under intense scrutiny.
Before the examination held on May 3, a 150-page document titled “Guess Paper” was allegedly circulated among students in Rajasthan’s Sikar and Jhunjhunu districts. The document reportedly contained 410 questions, of which 135 are alleged to have matched the actual NEET paper.
According to sources, the similarities extended beyond the questions themselves. Officials reportedly found matches in the sequence of options, language patterns, and even punctuation marks.
On May 7, the NTA acknowledged receiving inputs regarding alleged irregularities, four days after the examination. Around the same time, Special Operations Group (SOG) teams reached Sikar and Jhunjhunu to begin an investigation. On May 8, the NTA formally handed over the matter to central agencies.
The Rajasthan SOG subsequently launched a full-scale investigation into the alleged paper leak. By May 12, at least 13 people had reportedly been arrested from Sikar and several other locations across the country, including Jaipur, Nashik and Gurugram.
Among those currently in custody are Dinesh Binwal, his brother Mangilal, Mangilal’s son Vikas, and another accused, Rakesh, who allegedly operated a consultancy firm linked to the racket.
Investigators suspect that Dinesh Binwal allegedly procured the leaked paper for his son Rishi, who was preparing for NEET in Sikar, and later sold it to other candidates for money. The probe has also expanded to examine admissions secured by other members of the Binwal family last year.
Sources claim that five children from the families of Dinesh and Mangilal, all considered academically average, had reportedly cleared NEET in 2025. The revelation has now raised fresh questions over the integrity of last year’s examination process as well.
