The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday said the teacher, identified as Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, was allegedly part of a larger network that facilitated access to questions later found in the cancelled NEET-UG 2026 examination held on May 3.
File Photo: IANS
The sprawling NEET-UG 2026 examination scandal has taken a dramatic turn with the arrest of a senior Botany teacher from Pune, who was allegedly entrusted with confidential examination responsibilities by the National Testing Agency (NTA) but has now been identified as another mastermind who was the source for the leak of NEET-UG 2026 examination Biology questions.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday said the teacher, identified as Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, was allegedly part of a larger network that facilitated access to questions later found in the cancelled NEET-UG 2026 examination held on May 3.
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Investigators suspect she played a central role in leaking Biology questions to selected aspirants through secret coaching sessions conducted weeks before the exam, exposing a highly organised operation involving insiders, middlemen and students who allegedly paid huge sums for advance access to the paper.
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According to the CBI, Mandhare had been appointed by the NTA as a subject expert for the examination process and had complete access to the Biology question paper.
Officials said she is the second teacher from Pune to be arrested in the case after Chemistry professor PV Kulkarni, who was earlier taken into custody over the alleged Chemistry paper leak.
The agency believes both subjects may have been compromised through a coordinated network operating before the examination.
The CBI alleged that during April 2026, Mandhare worked with Pune-based consultant Manisha Wagmare, who had already been arrested earlier this week.
Investigators said prospective NEET candidates were allegedly mobilised through the consultant and brought to Mandhare’s residence in Pune for exclusive coaching sessions.
During these sessions, the accused teacher allegedly dictated important Biology questions, asked students to write them down in notebooks and instructed them to mark the same questions in their textbooks for focused preparation.
Officials claimed that a large number of these questions later matched the actual NEET-UG 2026 Biology paper that was eventually cancelled amid the leak controversy.
As the investigation widened, the CBI carried out raids at six locations across the country over the last 24 hours.
Officials said investigators seized laptops, bank records, mobile phones and several documents believed to be linked to the leak network. Digital and financial analysis of the seized material is now underway to trace money trails, communication records and the larger conspiracy behind the alleged leak.
The agency said special investigation teams were formed immediately after the case was registered on May 12 following a complaint from the Department of Higher Education under the Union Education Ministry.
The NEET-UG leak investigation has now led to arrests across several cities including Delhi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Nashik, Pune and Ahilyanagar.
According to officials, nine accused have been arrested so far. Five of them have already been remanded to police custody for detailed interrogation, while two others arrested on Friday were produced before a Pune court before being shifted to Delhi on transit remand.
Investigators believe the network involved middlemen who allegedly collected lakhs of rupees from medical aspirants in exchange for access to questions expected in the exam.
The scandal has intensified scrutiny over the security protocols surrounding India’s biggest medical entrance examination, with investigators continuing to probe whether more insiders and coaching-linked operatives were involved in the leak racket.
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