Manisha Waghmare, a 46-year-old beautician from Pune has emerged as a key figure in the CBI investigation into the NEET-UG paper leak case, with investigators saying that she acted as a “common link” between
students searching for tuition teachers and teachers from reputed schools.
According to sources quoted by The Indian Express, Manisha Waghmare, who runs a beauty parlour in Pune’s Sukhsagar Nagar, allegedly used her network of student contacts to circulate the leaked NEET-UG question paper for money.
The CBI believes Waghmare’s role is central to understanding how the paper leak network operated before the examination was cancelled last week.
How the network worked?
Investigators said many students had approached Waghmare in the past for help in finding tuition teachers. Over time, she allegedly developed contacts with both students and teachers from reputed educational institutions. Waghmare later discovered that Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, a member of the National Testing Agency’s question-setting panel for NEET-UG 2026, had access to the final examination papers.
The agency alleged that Waghmare then worked with Mandhare and retired teacher P V Kulkarni to identify students willing to pay for access to the leaked paper.
What CBI said?
According to investigators, Waghmare fixed deals worth nearly Rs 10 lakh per student. As per reports, the accused planned to divide between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 3 lakh among themselves from each deal.
The CBI told the court that Mandhare allegedly had complete access to the Botany and Zoology papers as part of her role in the NTA question-setting process.
The agency claimed she leaked the content to selected students in exchange for “substantial monetary gains”.
Students recruited through contacts
Officials said Waghmare allegedly arranged four to five students through her existing network.
She later reportedly shared the plan with an old friend, Dhananjay Nivrutti Lokhande, who then approached Shubham Khairnar, a counselling business operator based in Nashik.
Investigators alleged that Lokhande received the leaked NEET papers from Waghmare and passed them to Khairnar.
Khairnar then allegedly circulated PDF files of the paper to Gurugram resident Yash Yadav and later to individuals in Jaipur. Yadav has also been arrested in the case.
Multiple arrests
Waghmare was arrested on May 14 and sent to CBI custody for 10 days beginning May 16. Kulkarni was also remanded along with her.
On Sunday, a Delhi court granted the CBI 14 days’ custody of Mandhare, whom investigators described as one of the alleged masterminds behind the leak.
The agency said the investigation was still at a “very initial and crucial stage” and that several members of the alleged organised paper leak network were yet to be identified and arrested.
