Another professor arrested in NEET paper leak case from Pune

The freshly arrested accused has been identified as Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, a senior Botany professor from Pune, Maharashtra and she has been arrested in Delhi after thorough interrogation.

“She was involved in the NEET UG 2026 examination process and was appointed by the NTA as an expert. She had complete access to the Botany and Zoology question papers. In April 2026, she had mobilised prospective NEET examination candidates through arrested Manisha Wagmare of Pune and conducted special coaching classes for these students at her Pune residence,” a CBI spokesperson said.

“During these special classes, she explained and disclosed various questions from Botany and Zoology subjects and made the students note down the same in their notebooks and also mark them in their textbooks. Majority of these questions tallied with the actual question paper of NEET UG 2026 Examination held on May 3,” the spokesperson said.

On Friday, the CBI had arrested P V Kulkarni from Pune, identifying him as the source of the NEET-UG 2026 examination paper leaks. “Kulkarni was involved in the examination process on behalf of the NTA. He had access to the question papers, and he had organised special coaching classes with the help of Waghmare at his Pune residence during the last week of April 2026, in which students were allegedly mobilised and taught the leaked material,” an official said. Kulkarni was a chemistry lecturer at the Dayanand Junior College in Latur.

In the last 24 hours, CBI has also conducted searches at six locations across the country and seized several incriminating documents, laptops, bank statements and mobile phones. “Detailed analysis of the seized items is going on,” the spokesperson added.

The agency had registered a case on May 12 following a written complaint from the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education. The CBI then formed special teams and launched coordinated searches and arrests at multiple locations.