Pune Teacher Behind NEET Biology Question Paper Leak Arrested

A Botany teacher from Pune has been arrested in the case of the NEET-UG Biology paper leak, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said today, taking the total number of arrested suspects to nine.

The Botany teacher, Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, was arrested from Delhi after the CBI questioned her, the agency said.

She worked for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) process following her appointment by the National Testing Agency (NTA) as an expert, the CBI said.

In April, she got in touch with NEET candidates through Manisha Wagmare, another accused from Pune who was arrested earlier, and gave coaching classes for these students at her house.

She allegedly disclosed important questions from Botany and Zoology and made the students note down the same in their notebooks and also mark in their textbooks, the CBI said. Most of the questions tallied with the actual paper of NEET-UG held on May 3, the probe agency said.

The CBI also conducted searches at six locations across the country and seized incriminating documents, laptops, bank statements and mobile phones in the last 24 hours. A detailed analysis of the seized items is going on, it said.

The nine accused so far arrested in the case are from Delhi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Nasik, Pune and Ahliyanagar. Out of these, five are in police custody for seven days; two arrested from Pune are being brought to Delhi. The remaining are being questioned.

The CBI said its Investigation has so far found the actual source of the leakage of Chemistry and Biology papers as well as the middlemen involved in getting in touch with students who paid lakhs of rupees to attend the special coaching classes, where the questions which would come in the NEET UG were dictated and discussed.

The CBI yesterday said it had arrested the kingpin involved in the case, identified as PV Kulkarni, a Chemistry lecturer associated with the examination process on behalf of the NTA. He allegedly had access to the NEET-UG 2026 question papers.

The CBI said its investigation revealed that during the last week of April, Kulkarni along with Manisha Waghmare, organised special coaching classes for select students at his Pune house.

"During these coaching sessions, he dictated questions along with options and correct answers. The questions handwritten by students in their notebooks exactly matched the actual Chemistry paper of the NEET-UG 2026 examination conducted on May 3, 2026," the CBI said.

The case into the paper leak was filed by the CBI on May 12 following a complaint by the Department of Higher Education under the Union Education Ministry.