The National Testing Agency’s (NTA) paper-setting panel has come under the microscope after the arrest of a second insider in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case.
The “entire committee that set the paper and other senior officers of NTA are under the scanner” and more arrests may follow in the coming days, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official told HT.
2nd ‘Kingpin’ of the NEET paper leak case
Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, a Pune-based botany teacher, was arrested on Saturday for allegedly leaking questions from the medical entrance examination weeks before the test was held.
She was appointed by the NTA as an expert and served on the paper-setting committee. This gave her complete access to the confidential Botany and Zoology sections of the paper, investigators said.
Her arrest came a day after the agency arrested retired chemistry lecturer PV Kulkarni, whom investigators have described as a “kingpin” in the leak.
‘First time leak was at NTA’
“This is the first time in paper leak probes we have found the source of leak at NTA,” a second officer told HT. “Once the paper was leaked and its PDFs were out on messaging groups, there could have been hundreds of beneficiaries. We will trace all of them but first we are working on the source of the leak and their associates.”
According to the CBI, Mandhare held special coaching classes for selected students at her Pune home during April. There, she allegedly dictated Botany and Zoology questions that later appeared in the NEET-UG 2026 exam held on May 3.
Investigators said students were brought to her through co-accused Manisha Waghmare, a Pune-based beauty parlour owner who was arrested earlier this week.
“During classes, Mandhare explained and disclosed various questions from Botany and Zoology subjects and made the students note down the same in their notebooks and also mark in their text books. Majority of these questions tallied with the actual question paper of NEET-UG 2026 examination held on May 3,” the agency said.
Two sets of leaked papers
Officials said the probe has found two separate sets of leaked papers originating from within the NTA system: one handwritten and one typed. Investigators say Kulkarni leaked the Chemistry paper, while Mandhare allegedly leaked the Biology sections.
Kulkarni also allegedly conducted special classes from his Pune residence. Students there copied questions, answer options and correct answers that later “exactly tallied” with the final exam paper, investigators said.
On Saturday, the CBI produced Kulkarni and Waghmare before a special court in Delhi’s Rouse Avenue and sought 14 days of custody, calling them “part of an organised paper leak gang”. The court sent both accused to 10 days of CBI custody.
The agency told the court that the accused destroyed question papers after the May 3 exam to remove evidence. Investigators are also checking whether Kulkarni and Mandhare were involved in earlier exam paper leaks.
How NEET exam papers were leaked
The probe has also traced how the leaked papers allegedly moved through middlemen across several states before reaching students. Investigators said a PDF containing around 500-600 questions circulated through Telegram groups.
According to investigators, Nashik-based Shubham Khairnar passed the material to Gurugram resident Yash Yadav. He then allegedly sold it to Jaipur-based Mangilal Biwal, also identified as Mangilal Khatik, for ₹10 lakh after assuring that around 150 questions would match the final paper.
Searches at six locations over the past 24 hours led to the recovery of laptops, bank documents, mobile phones and other material linked to the case.
So far, nine people from five states have been arrested, including Mandhare, Kulkarni and Waghmare from Pune; Dhananjay Lokhanda from Ahilyanagar; Khairnar from Nashik; Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal and Dinesh Biwal from Jaipur; and Yadav from Gurugram.
“CBI is committed to comprehensive, impartial and professional investigation in this case,” the agency said.
NEET-UG, the entrance exam for medical colleges, is taken every year by more than 22 lakh students. After the leak, the May 3 examination was cancelled and the government announced a re-test on June 21.
