The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), continuing its manhunt to nab other accused and masterminds involved in the NEET UG 2026 Paper leak, laid hands on a Pune-based Botany lecturer. As per CBI officials, she played a pivotal role in leaking questions from the Biology section ahead of the national medical entrance examination. 

Officials said the arrested accused has been identified as Manisha Mandhare, who was taken into custody in Delhi after prolonged questioning at the agency’s headquarters. The CBI sleuths have termed her ‘another mastermind’ behind the alleged leak of Biology questions in the NEET UG 2026 exam held on May 3. 

Mandhare had direct access to NEET questions

If the officials are to be believed, Mandhare was part of the National Testing Agency’s paper-setting panel and had been linked to the NEET question preparation for a period of six years. Currently employed at Modern College of Arts Science and Commerce as a Botany professor, she was entrusted with preparing Botany and Zoology questions for the 2026 exams. 

The CBI said that Mandhare used her access to confidential exam material to leak questions to select aspirants weeks before the test was held. The investigators further said that she conducted covert coaching sessions at her residence in Pune in April this year, during which she allegedly dictated likely examination questions and answers to students.

The officials also claimed that several questions discussed during the sessions closely matched those that were asked in the NEET UG 2026 exam. 

Secret coaching sessions on CBI’s radar

The probe agency then alleged that candidates attending such sessions had been mobilised through another accused, identified as Manisha Waghmare, who was arrested earlier this week. Meanwhile, Mandhare’s modus-operandi seems to be akin to the methods attributed to PV Kulkarni, another accused and purported kingpin in the case.

The CBI had swooped down on Kulkarni, a Chemistry professor on Friday. According to CBI sleuths, both accused conducted closed-door coaching sessions for handpicked students, and charged hefty sums in exchange for leaked content. 

After making numerous arrests in the case, the CBI told a Delhi court that all of them may need to be taken to multiple locations across the country to unearth a ‘larger conspiracy’ behind the paper leak network. So far, nine persons in connection with the case have been arrested from cities like Pune, Delhi, Jaipur and Gurugram.