After the arrest of Pune-based chemistry lecturer PV Kulkarni on Saturday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested another mastermind behind the ‘leak’ of NEET-UG 2026 exam questions.
The key accused has been identified as Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, a senior botany teacher from Pune, Maharashtra. She was arrested in Delhi following the interrogation of alleged kingpin PV Kulkarni and other accused in the paper leak case, PTI officials said.
Mandhare, a biology lecturer, was part of the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) paper-making committee for NEET-UG held on May 3, officials said. Biology questions of NEET examination allegedly leaked.
She was involved in the NEET UG 2026 examination process and was appointed as an expert by NTA, news agency ANI also reported.
According to reports, Mandhare had full access to matters of botany and zoology.
Officials told ANI more details that in April 2026, Mandhare mobilized potential candidates for the NEET exams through Pune-based Manisha Wagmare, who was arrested on May 14, and conducted special coaching classes for these students at her headquarters in Pune.
It was alleged that Mandhare dictated leaked questions and answers to selected students and took thousands of rupees as fee.
“During these classes, she explained and revealed various questions from Botany and Zoology and made the students write them in their notebooks and also noted them in their textbooks,” officials said.
They added, “Most of these questions corresponded to the actual question paper of the NEET UG 2026 exam held on 03.05.2026.”
Chemistry lecturer arrested
Earlier on Friday, the CBI arrested Professor PV Kulkarni, a chemistry expert from Latur. For years, Kulkarni has served on panels involved in NEET question preparation.
Taking advantage of his privileged access to confidential materials, Kulkarni allegedly held special coaching classes at his home in the last week of April and dictated to his students the questions, options and answers that appeared in the NEET UG paper on May 3, PTI reported.
“During the last week of April 2026, he mobilized students with the help of another accused, namely Manisha Waghmare, who was arrested on May 14 by the CBI,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The students allegedly paid several lakh rupees to attend the sessions where they wrote down questions in their notebooks and later “calculated accurately” with the actual NEET-UG paper of May 3, the spokesperson said.
The total number of arrests reached 9
The CBI has registered an FIR and formed teams to probe the alleged paper leak that led to the cancellation of the exam held on May 3.
So far, nine accused from Delhi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Nasik, Pune and Ahliyanagar have been arrested in this case.
Of these, five accused have already been brought to court and taken into seven days of police custody for detailed questioning.
The other two accused, who were arrested on Friday, were produced before a Pune court and taken to Delhi on Transit Remand. They are submitted to the court in Delhi.
In the last 24 hours, the CBI also conducted searches at six locations across the country and seized several incriminating documents, laptops, bank statements and mobile phones.
A detailed analysis of the seized items is underway.
NEET-UG 2026 exam has been canceled, new exam has been announced
The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) was conducted in 551 Indian cities and 14 overseas centres.
Nearly 23,000 candidates registered for the test, which was administered by the NTA across the country.
According to the NTA, information about the alleged misconduct was received on the evening of May 7, four days after the exam was held.
After the alleged “paper leak” and subsequent cancellation of the exam, there were several cases of suicides.
The NTA said the inputs were escalated to central agencies the following morning for “independent verification and necessary action”.
