CBI Expands NEET Paper Leak Probe To Maharashtra's Nanded, Questions Family Linked To Accused

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has expanded its probe into the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case to Maharashtra’s Nanded district, after carrying out investigations in Pune, Nashik, Ahilyanagar, Latur and Beed.

According to the information accessed during the probe, the CBI team reached Nanded after investigators allegedly found links between the accused Shubham Khairnar, who was earlier apprehended in Nashik, and a family residing in the district.

Officials suspect that the family had purchased alleged “guess papers” linked to the NEET examination leak racket at a hefty price.

The family reportedly had two children preparing for the NEET examination.

Sources said the CBI has been questioning members of the family at their residence

in Nanded’s Vidyut Nagar area since Sunday morning.

Simultaneously, another CBI team conducted searches at the Pune office linked to accused Shubham Khairnar as investigators attempt to trace the larger network allegedly involved in leaking examination content and facilitating access to students through intermediaries.

CBI SEEKS CUSTODY OF KEY ACCUSED

The fresh developments in Maharashtra came even as the CBI on Sunday produced accused Manisha Gurunath Mandhare before Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court and sought 14 days’ custody for further investigation, ANI reported.

Mandhare was part of the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) panel and served as an expert and translator during the examination process.

According to ANI, the CBI informed the court that the entire examination process followed by the NTA was under investigation.

The agency also alleged that Mandhare had received money from students, and financial transactions linked to the case were being examined further.

The defence opposed the CBI’s plea for extended custody, arguing that no recoveries had been made from Mandhare’s residence and that she had already cooperated with investigators on multiple occasions, ANI reported.

The accused was apprehended from a hotel in Mathura before being brought to Delhi for questioning and formal arrest.

ROLE OF NTA-ASSOCIATED PUBLIC SERVANT UNDER SCANNER

On Saturday, it was reported that the alleged role of a public servant associated with the NTA has also come under the scanner of the federal agency in the NEET-UG paper leak case.

The report said the CBI, while seeking custody of accused Manisha Sanjay Waghmare and chemistry lecturer PV Kulkarni, alleged that Waghmare had conspired with other accused persons and a public servant linked to the NTA to obtain question papers and answers on April 27.

According to PTI, Waghmare was allegedly connected to Kulkarni through biology lecturer Manisha Mandhare.

Investigators alleged that Waghmare collected questions from Kulkarni and passed them to another accused, Dhananjay Lokhande of Ahilyanagar, for monetary consideration.

Lokhande is accused of distributing the leaked questions further among aspirants.

The agency also alleged that handwritten chemistry questions distributed to aspirants were later destroyed, while Waghmare allegedly disposed of documents after the examination conducted on May 3.

SPECIAL COACHING SESSIONS UNDER INVESTIGATION

The CBI has alleged that Mandhare, who had access to Botany and Zoology question papers as part of the NTA’s expert panel, conducted special coaching sessions for select students at her Pune residence.

ANI reported that investigators believe many of the questions discussed during those sessions matched questions that later appeared in the actual NEET-UG 2026 examination.

PTI similarly reported that Kulkarni, described as a chemistry domain expert associated with NEET paper-setting panels for years, allegedly hosted coaching classes at his residence during the last week of April.

During these sessions, students were allegedly given questions, answer options and responses that later “tallied exactly” with the NEET-UG paper conducted on May 3.

Students allegedly paid several lakh rupees to attend the sessions, according to the agency’s allegations cited by PTI.

MULTIPLE SEARCHES, NINE ARRESTS SO FAR

ANI reported that the CBI has conducted searches at six locations across the country over the past 24 hours and seized laptops, bank statements, mobile phones and other incriminating material.

The agency said analysis of the seized evidence is underway.

So far, nine accused have been arrested from Delhi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Nashik, Pune and Ahilyanagar in connection with the case, according to ANI.

The investigation, initiated after a complaint from the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education, has focused on tracing the source of the alleged Chemistry and Biology paper leak, identifying middlemen and examining how students were mobilised for the purported coaching sessions.

The NEET-UG 2026 examination, conducted on May 3 across 551 Indian cities and 14 overseas centres for nearly 23 lakh registered candidates, was later cancelled amid allegations of a paper leak, PTI reported.