NEET-UG 2026 paper leak: Delhi court grants 14 days' CBI custody to accused Pune teacher Manisha Mandhare

According to a CBI statement issued on Saturday, Mandhare was involved in the NEET-UG 2026 examination process and had been appointed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) as an expert, giving her full access to the Biology question paper.

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

Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, an NTA-appointed senior Botany teacher from Pune, is suspected to have been one of the masterminds behind the leak of the Biology question paper. Meanwhile, Chemistry professor P V Kulkarni is believed to be the "kingpin" of the paper leak.

During the proceedings in the Rouse Avenue Court, the CBI told the bench that Manisha Mandhare was an expert in translating botany and zoology question papers.

"Manisha was in conspiracy with P V Kulkarni and Manisha Waghmare. She gave the question paper to another accused, Shubham. Simultaneous investigations are going on across the country. We need to take her to different parts of the country for the purpose of investigation," the CBI said. 

The probing agency also mentioned that Mandhare had all access to the question paper. Meanwhile, the defence emphasised that the manner in which Manisha Gurunath Mandhare was arrested is "illegal".

"She was arrested after sundown and then was brought to Delhi at 1 a.m.," the defence counsel said.

The court directed the defence counsel to file an appropriate application in this regard. It also permitted Mandhare to meet her counsel daily for 15 minutes.

According to a CBI statement issued on Saturday, Mandhare was involved in the NEET-UG 2026 examination process and had been appointed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) as an expert, giving her full access to the Biology question paper.

The statement further said that in April 2026, she allegedly mobilised prospective NEET examination candidates through Pune-based consultant Manisha Wagmare, who was arrested on May 14, and conducted special coaching sessions for these students at her residence in Pune.

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During these sessions, Mandhare disclosed and explained several questions from Biology and asked the students to note down the same in their notebook and also mark these in their textbook, as per the statement.

The probe agency said that a majority of these questions matched the actual NEET-UG 2026 question paper conducted on May 3, which was later cancelled.

In the past 24 hours, the CBI carried out searches at six locations across the country and seized several incriminating documents, laptops, bank records, and mobile phones. An official said a detailed examination of the seized materials is currently underway.

It may be recalled that the CBI registered the case on May 12 based on a written complaint filed by the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education, Government of India, regarding the alleged leak of the NEET-UG 2026 examination paper.

Soon after the case was registered, special teams were constituted and searches were carried out at multiple locations across the country, following which several suspects were detained and questioned.

So far, nine accused have been arrested in the case from Delhi, Jaipur, Nasik, Pune and Ahliyanagar. Out of these nine, five accused have already been produced before the court and taken into  7-day police custody remand for thorough interrogation.

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Two other accused arrested on Friday were produced before a court in Pune and later taken to Delhi after obtaining transit remand.

The CBI said the investigation is continuing with special teams, and inquiries conducted so far have identified the original source of the leaked Chemistry and Biology papers, along with the middlemen involved in the operation.

According to the agency, the middlemen facilitated the enrolment of students who allegedly paid lakhs of rupees to attend special coaching sessions where questions which would come in the NEET UG-2026 examination were dictated and discussed.

With the inputs from agency...