New Delhi, 16 May (H.S.):
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested the alleged key conspirator behind the leak of the biology section in the NEET-UG question paper leak case. The agency arrested Manisha Gurunath Mandare, a botany teacher from Pune. She had been appointed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) as an expert for the NEET-UG 2026 examination process.
The CBI said that Mandare had full access to the botany and zoology question papers. The investigation has revealed that in April, she, through Manisha Waghmare in Pune, gathered prospective candidates and conducted special coaching classes at her residence in Pune. Manisha had already been arrested on May 14.
According to the investigating agency, during these classes she disclosed several questions related to botany and zoology to the candidates and asked them to mark them in their notebooks and textbooks. Later, most of these questions were found to match the actual NEET-UG question paper held on May 3.
The CBI also carried out raids at six locations across the country over the past 24 hours. During the operation, several incriminating documents, laptops, bank details and mobile phones were seized. The recovered material is now being examined in detail.
The CBI registered the case on May 12 on the basis of a complaint from the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education. After the case was registered, special investigation teams were formed and raids were conducted at various places across the country, during which several suspects were questioned.
The agency said that a total of nine accused have been arrested so far from Delhi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Nashik, Pune and Ahilyanagar. Of them, five have been produced before the court and sent to seven days’ police custody. Two other accused were brought to Delhi from Pune on transit remand and are being produced before the court.
According to the CBI, the ongoing investigation has so far established the actual source of the chemistry and biology question paper leak, as well as the role of intermediaries who, in exchange for lakhs of rupees, enrolled students in special coaching classes where the questions likely to appear in the examination were disclosed and explained. The agency said a comprehensive probe into the matter is continuing.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
