NEET Paper Leak: Delhi Court Sends Manisha Mandhare to 14 Days’ CBI Custody

New Delhi (IANS): A Delhi court on Sunday sent NEET paper leak accused Manisha Gurunath Mandhare to 14-day custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The CBI suspects Mandhare, an NTA-appointed senior Botany teacher from Pune, of co-masterminding the Biology question paper leak. The agency considers Chemistry professor P.V. Kulkarni the “kingpin” of the racket.

During proceedings at the Rouse Avenue Court, the CBI informed the bench that Mandhare specialized in translating botany and zoology question papers.

“Manisha conspired with P.V. Kulkarni and Manisha Waghmare. She gave the question paper to another accused, Shubham. We are conducting simultaneous investigations across the country and need to take her to different states for the probe,” the CBI stated, adding that Mandhare had direct access to the question paper.

Meanwhile, the defense counsel challenged the arrest, calling it illegal. “The agency arrested her after sundown and brought her to Delhi at 1 a.m.,” the counsel argued.

The court directed the defense to file a formal application regarding the arrest conditions. Additionally, the court permitted Mandhare to meet her counsel for 15 minutes daily.

Coaching Classes Disclosed Actual NEET Questions

According to a CBI statement released on Saturday, the National Testing Agency (NTA) had appointed Mandhare as an expert for the NEET-UG 2026 Examination process, giving her complete access to the Biology paper.

The agency stated that in April 2026, Mandhare mobilized prospective NEET candidates through Pune consultant Manisha Waghmare, whom officials arrested on May 14. Mandhare then conducted special coaching classes for these students at her Pune residence.

During these sessions, she explained and disclosed various questions from the Biology paper, forcing students to note them down in their notebooks and mark them in their textbooks. The probe agency confirmed that a majority of these questions tallied exactly with the actual question paper of the NEET-UG 2026 examination held on May 3 and later cancelled.

Nationwide Crackdown Yields Nine Arrests

Over the last 24 hours, the CBI searched six locations across the country, seizing incriminating documents, laptops, bank statements, and mobile phones. An official confirmed that experts are currently analyzing the seized items.

The CBI originally registered the case on May 12 following a written complaint from the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, regarding the alleged paper leak. Immediately after registering the case, the agency formed special teams, raided various locations nationwide, and picked up several suspects for interrogation.

So far, the CBI has arrested nine accused individuals across Delhi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Nashik, Pune, and Ahilyanagar. The agency has already produced five of these accused before the court, securing a 7-day police custody remand for detailed interrogation. Following their arrest on Friday, officials produced two other accused before a Pune court and shifted them to Delhi under transit remand.

The CBI stated that special teams are continuing the investigation, which has successfully exposed the actual source of the Chemistry and Biology paper leaks as well as the network of middlemen. These middlemen mobilized students, who paid lakhs of rupees to attend the secret coaching classes where Mandhare dictated and discussed the leaked NEET-UG 2026 exam questions.