Inside NEET Leak Probe: CBI Reaches NTA’s Inner Circle Of Question Setters, What Comes Next?

It all started when, on May 7, a teacher from Sikar wrote to the National Testing Agency, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Central Bureau of Investigation, blowing the lid off the NEET UG 2026 paper leak that would affect over 22 lakh students and their families. The exam was cancelled and a probe launched. Soon, what was appearing to be a fault of afew minutes before the exam day, was slowly identified as a leak web working for weeks before the 3 May test. The revelation soon brought the net of investigation on the inner circle of NTA - the question setters.On Friday (May 15), the CBI arrested retired Pune lecturer P V Kulkarni, identifying him as the “source of the NEET-UG 2026 examination paper leaks”. Another professor from Pune, Manisha

Gurunath Mandhare, was arrested on Saturday.

According to a report by the Indian Express, Kulkarni was involved in preparing Chemistry questions and translating them into Marathi. The NTA reportedly uses the same individual for both setting and translation at times to reduce the number of people with access to the paper. Candidates can opt to take NEET-UG in 13 languages.A CBI spokesperson said Mandhare had been appointed by the NTA as an expert and had access to the Botany and Zoology sections.

The Modus Operandi - Secret Coaching, Handwritten Questions

Investigators alleged that both Kulkarni and Mandhare used special coaching sessions to reveal questions linked to the examination.“During April 2026, she(Mandhare) had mobilised prospective NEET candidates through Manisha Wagmare of Pune and conducted special coaching sessions for them at her residence in Pune,” the CBI spokesperson said on Saturday.

“During these classes she (Mandhare) explained and disclosed various questions from Botany and Zoology subjects and made the students note down the same in their notebooks and also mark in their textbooks. Majority of these questions tallied with the actual question paper of NEET UG 2026 examination held on 03-05-2026,” the spokesperson said.Kulkarni, originally from Maharashtra’s Latur district and later settled in Pune, allegedly followed a method similar to that of co-accused professor Mandhare by revealing exam-related questions to students during private coaching sessions held before the examination.

The Chain And The Extent of Leak

The agency claims that Manisha Waghmare, arrested earlier after the probe was transferred from the Rajasthan Special Operations Group (SOG) to the CBI, acted as the key link between the professors and aspirants who allegedly paid to attend the sessions. Investigators alleged that Waghmare helped mobilise students for these special classes where questions and answers were discussed in advance.The leaked material allegedly travelled through a network of middlemen, moving from Waghmare to Dhananjay Lokhande, then to Nashik-based Shubham Khairnar, and later through Gurugram resident Yash Yadav to the Biwal brothers in Rajasthan.On Saturday, the CBI produced both Kulkarni and Waghmare before a special CBI court in Pune, which granted the agency 10 days’ custody.

Seeking a 14-day remand, Special Public Prosecutor Neetu Singh alleged that Waghmare received the leaked paper on April 27 and circulated it to multiple individuals, including Lokhande. She further alleged that Waghmare destroyed the leaked copy after the May 3 examination.The prosecution also accused Kulkarni of sharing leaked questions with selected students in exchange for large sums of money, some of which were allegedly deposited into his bank account. The CBI further claimed that Kulkarni destroyed handwritten notes containing confidential NEET questions after the investigation began.Defence counsels Vikram Singh and Akash Chauhan opposed the remand, arguing that Kulkarni’s role was limited as he only contributed a small set of questions and had no control over which questions the NTA finally selected for the examination.According to Rajasthan SOG’s preliminary findings, nearly 135 Biology and Chemistry questions were leaked and circulated through WhatsApp and Telegram groups before the exam. The NTA has since cancelled NEET-UG 2026 and announced a retest on June 21 for the more than 22 lakh candidates who appeared on May 3.