All of the 13 accused in the NEET-UG paper leak case are currently in judicial custody. File photo
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which recently filed a chargesheet against 13 accused persons in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case, has alleged that the subject experts engaged by the National Testing Agency (NTA) leaked questions through handwritten notes, following which they were circulated via digital messaging platforms.
The accused experts included Manisha Sanjay Havaldar for physics, Manisha Gurunath Mandhare for biology, and P.V. Kulkarni for chemistry.
Passed through intermediaries
Ms. Havaldar translated one set and “back-translated/proofread” three sets of questions. According to the CBI, she allegedly remembered the questions and noted them down after returning from the NTA’s “confidential section” premises to her place of stay in Delhi. The questions were allegedly passed first to accused Tejas Harshadkumar Shah, a physics faculty at a Pune coaching centre, the Dr. Abhang Prabhu Medical Academy (APMA).
The biology questions were allegedly sent from Ms. Mandhare to Pune-based beauty salon owner and alleged intermediary Manisha Sanjay Waghmare, who also collected chemistry questions. Ms. Waghmare forwarded them to Dhananjay Lokhande, who in turn passed them to Shubham Khairnar for onward distribution. The questions allegedly reached Yash Yadav in Haryana’s Gurugram before being distributed further to Mangilal Biwal, Dinesh Biwal, and Vikas Biwal from Jaipur, Rajasthan, among others.
No frisking of experts
Mr. Kulkarni allegedly used the plain sheets made available for rough work to note down on small chits the chemistry questions in brief as well as their answers, and took them out of the NTA premises in a concealed manner. The agency found that experts were not frisked and their possessions were not checked during entry or exit. The accused would remember easier questions and write them down later in his hotel room. He did back-translation work for three sets of questions.
The chemistry questions were allegedly circulated through two parallel channels, one involving Ms. Waghmare and another through a Latur-based doctor named Manoj Shirure. The doctor shared them with Shivraj Motegaonkar, the owner of the RCC Coaching Institute in Maharashtra’s Latur, the CBI has alleged.
Fake FIFA group connected candidates
The Department of Higher Education under the Union Education Ministry initially received information about the alleged leak from a resident of Rajasthan’s Sikar via email. He had come across two PDFs containing such questions.
During the investigation, the agency identified certain WhatsApp groups, including one named “FIFA World Cup 2026”, which were allegedly used to connect with candidates. The questions were also circulated via Telegram.
Published – August 07, 2026 02:28 pm IST
