In a major breakthrough, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested another
mastermind of the NEET-UG 2026 leak. The suspect involved is a Pune-based Botany teacher,
Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, who leaked the Biology questions before the actual exam took
place. She was intercepted in Delhi, after a thorough interrogation by the CBI.
The accused Mandhare was appointed as an expert by the National Testing Agency (NTA) to set
the Botany and Zoology questions for the NEET-UG 2026.
The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)-Undergraduate (UG), a national level medical
entrance exam, was held on May 3, 2026. However, it was cancelled by the NTA, following an
alleged leak, on May 12. NTA is the body responsible for conducting the countrywide medical
exam for undergraduate admissions. The leak and its subsequent cancellation has left over 22
lakh medical aspirants utterly dismayed.
The NEET-UG leak was first exposed by a Chemistry teacher from Sikar, Rajasthan.
Manisha Mandhare: the teacher responsible for the exam breach
The accused Mandhare taught at Pune’s Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce. She
was involved in setting the NEET paper from at least past 5 to 6 years.
Reportedly, Mandhare had uninterrupted access to the Zoology and Botany questions set in the
real exam.
“Special classes” to leak the actual exam
Allegedly, the accused had taken special coaching classes at her home in Pune, where she had
dictated the same Biology questions that were present in the real NEET-UG question paper. She
also divulged the correct answers of these questions, and asked her students to write it in their
notebooks.
In total, 90 Biology questions were compromised, where these questions were also circulated
through a “guess paper”, on WhatsApp and Telegram groups.
A multi-state racket behind the leak
The CBI raided 6 locations in the country as a larger network, spread across multiple states, has
purportedly orchestrated the leak of NEET-UG 2026, involving massive amounts of money,
extracted from NEET aspirants and their families.
CBI seized laptops, mobiles, bank statements and other documents from the raids.
Already, 9 arrests have been made from several cities including Jaipur, Nashik and Gurugram.
In addition, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) National Secretary Santosh Kumar Jaiswal was arrested
by the Delhi Police Crime Branch in connection with the NEET-UG exam leak, where he is
accused of exam fraud.
The Chemistry questions leak mastermind
45 Chemistry questions were leaked from the NEET-UG 2026, where the CBI has arrested PV
Kulkarni. Kulkarni is a Chemistry lecturer and another alleged mastermind behind the leak.
Re-examination date announced
On May 15, NTA announced the rescheduling of the NEET-UG on June 21, 2026 (Sunday), after it
received Centre government’s approval.
Reform in NEET-UG to be implemented from next year
Furthermore, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan declared the structural reform of
conducting the NEET-UG in a fully-online computer-based test (CBT) format from next year,
abolishing the conventional pen-and-paper format to prevent any potential exam leaks.