The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a biology lecturer, Manisha Gurunath Mandhare a Pune resident, who was part of the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) paper-setting process for NEET-UG 2026.
According to officials, Mandhare was arrested after questioning at the CBI headquarters in Delhi in connection with the ongoing paper leak investigation linked to the NEET-UG examination held on May 3, 2026. The arrest was made based on interrogation of alleged kingpin P V Kulkarni and other accused persons in the case.
Mandhare was allegedly appointed as an expert by the NTA and had complete access to botany and zoology question papers during the examination process. She is alleged to have mobilised prospective candidates in April 2026 through Manisha Waghmare, who was earlier arrested on May 14.
She allegedly conducted special coaching sessions for selected students at her Pune residence, where questions and answers related to botany and zoology were discussed.
According to a PTI report, Mandhare is also alleged to have dictated leaked questions and answers to students and collected substantial fees, running into lakhs of rupees.
Investigators said many of these questions closely matched those that appeared in the NEET-UG 2026 question paper conducted on May 3, the exam was subsequently cancelled following allegations of a paper leak.
CBI officials had earlier arrested domain expert and professor P V Kulkarni, who had served on NEET question paper-setting panels for years. He is accused of exploiting access to confidential material and conducting similar coaching sessions in Latur, allegedly sharing questions, options and answers with students before the examination.
Nearly 23 lakh candidates had registered for NEET-UG 2026, which was conducted across 551 Indian cities and 14 overseas centres. The National Testing Agency stated that information regarding suspected malpractice was received on the evening of May 7, four days after the exam, and was subsequently escalated to central agencies for verification and action.
(With inputs from ENS and PTI)