NEET paper ‘leak’ case: CBI charge sheet cites evidence from access control app of NTA expert’s society, phone records
Three Pune-based subject experts, who are among the 13 accused arrested, exploited several lapses identified in the NTA building in Okhla where paper setting, translations and back translation were done
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a chargesheet against 13 individuals in connection with the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case. The CBI alleges that subject experts employed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) leaked questions through handwritten notes, which were subsequently distributed via digital messaging platforms.
Among the accused experts were Manisha Sanjay Havaldar for physics, Manisha Gurunath Mandhare for biology, and P.V. Kulkarni for chemistry. Havaldar allegedly translated one set and "back-translated/proofread" three sets of questions after returning from the NTA's confidential area to her residence in Delhi. These questions were first passed to Tejas Harshadkumar Shah, a physics faculty at a Pune coaching center.
The biology questions were allegedly sent to Manisha Sanjay Waghmare, a beauty salon owner and alleged intermediary in Pune, who collected the chemistry questions. Waghmare forwarded them to Dhananjay Lokhande, who then passed them to Shubham Khairnar for distribution. The questions allegedly reached Yash Yadav in Gurugram, Haryana, before being further disseminated to Mangilal Biwal, Dinesh Biwal, Vikas Biwal from Jaipur, Rajasthan, and others.
Kulkarni is alleged to have used rough work sheets to jot down brief notes of chemistry questions and their answers, taking them out of the NTA premises covertly. The CBI found that experts were not searched upon entry or exit from the NTA premises, and their belongings were not checked. The accused would remember easier questions and write them down later in their hotel rooms.
Chemistry questions were reportedly distributed through two parallel channels, one involving Waghmare and another through Manoj Shirure, a doctor in Latur, who shared them with Shivraj Motegaonkar, the owner of the RCC Coaching Institute in Maharashtra's Latur. The leak was initially reported to the Department of Higher Education under the Union Education Ministry by a resident of Rajasthan's Sikar, who had discovered two PDFs containing such questions.
The investigation uncovered WhatsApp groups, such as "FIFA World Cup 2026", and Telegram as channels through which the questions were circulated.
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