Who is Shashikant Suthar, Chemistry teacher who exposed NEET paper leak?

The NEET-UG 2026 paper leak scandal may never have exploded into a national controversy if one Rajasthan teacher had simply ignored a suspicious PDF. Instead, Shashikant Suthar decided to check it carefully. Now, the chemistry teacher from Rajasthan’s Sikar district has become one of the most talked-about names and the earliest whistleblower linked to the massive NEET controversy that eventually led to the cancellation of India’s biggest medical entrance exam. Read Full Story Suthar, who teaches Chemistry at a coaching institute in Sikar, reportedly came across a so-called "guess paper" shortly after the May 3 NEET exam. According to him, the PDF had already been circulating in Telegram groups before the test. What happened next shocked him. 'I WAS SHOCKED' Suthar claimed he compared the viral PDF with the actual NEET paper and found massive similarities. "Someone known to me approached me after the NEET examination was over on May 3 and showed me the PDF of the guess paper," he told India Today TV. "They wanted to know whether questions from it appeared in the actual paper. I was shocked to see that all Chemistry questions appeared exactly as they were in the NEET 2026 paper," he added. According to reports, nearly 140 questions allegedly matched the real paper, including wording, sequence and even punctuation marks. Suthar later claimed he even used AI tools to compare the papers more carefully. NEET UG 2026 Re-exam Live Updates HOW THE CASE GREW BIGGER Realising the seriousness of the matter, Suthar said he approached authorities and shared details with investigators. "The NTA approached me over the phone. I informed them about the details I had regarding the paper leak. Within hours, officials from the investigating agency, the SOG, reached out to me. CBI officials have also met me," he claimed. He also alleged that he tried informing local police on the night of May 3 itself. "I went to the Udhyog Nagar police station that night and tried to explain the matter," Suthar said. Suthar also later alleged that there was a delay in formally escalating the matter to the NTA. According to him, discussions about the viral "guess paper" allegedly continued between May 3 and May 7 before an email was finally sent to the agency. He claimed that local coaching officials, hostel operators and administrative authorities were aware of the issue during those days, though senior police officials in Sikar have denied the allegations. The controversy soon snowballed into a nationwide investigation involving Rajasthan Police, the Special Operations Group and later the CBI. So far, multiple arrests have been made in connection with the alleged leak network. 'SACRIFICES OF STUDENTS GO TO WASTE' As outrage over the leak grew, Suthar expressed disappointment over the alleged involvement of educators in the scandal. "As a teacher, I never thought a teacher would be involved in this. We need to understand that the sacrifices of students go to waste," he said. NEET-UG 2026 has now been cancelled, with a re-exam scheduled for June 21 under tighter security measures. Meanwhile, the controversy has also pushed the government to announce that NEET will move to a computer-based format from next year. Ends