NEET-UG paper leak case: Manisha Mandhare, one of the main accused, was sent to CBI custody for 14 days by the court.

New Delhi, 17 May. Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, one of the key accused arrested so far by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2026 paper leak case, was sent to 14-day CBI custody by Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court on Saturday.

It is noteworthy that Mandhare, a resident of Pune, Maharashtra and a senior Botany teacher, was arrested by the CBI from a hotel in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh after an intelligence operation. After intensive interrogation in the national capital Delhi, the central agency produced him before the special CBI judge today.

Questions raised on confidentiality of NTA

According to central investigators, accused Mandhare was appointed as an expert by the National Testing Agency (NTA). Because of this, he had direct access to the very sensitive and confidential question papers of Botany and Zoology. The investigating agency also informed the court that at present the entire functioning and operational process of NTA is under investigation.

Method of paper leak: Planted at home ‘Secret Class’

Initial investigation has revealed that Mandhare had taken huge amount of money from the students in exchange for leaking the exam questions. The prosecution alleged that during April, 2026, Mandhare had collected medical candidates with the help of co-accused Manisha Waghmare, also of Pune, who was arrested recently.

Another big arrest in NEET case: NTA’s expert teacher Manisha Mandhare had leaked Biology paper.

Mandhare conducted secret coaching sessions at his Pune residence. It is alleged that he wrote the real exam questions to the students there and instructed them to note down those topics in their personal notebooks and mark those topics in the textbooks. Investigation has revealed that most of these questions exactly matched the question paper of the actual NEET-UG 2026 held on May 3.

Defense opposed remand, court rejected objections

On the other hand, the defense counsel strongly opposed the CBI’s remand application and termed it unfair. The lawyer argued that Mandhare had already voluntarily joined the investigation twice and had spent three days in police custody. Furthermore, the lawyer also stressed that the agency had not found any incriminating material in the raid conducted at Mandhare’s residence, hence there was no need to extend the custody. But the court rejected the objections of the defense and approved 14 days of custody so that there is no hindrance in the ongoing investigation in several states.

CBI increased the scope of investigation and intensified action in many states

At the same time, CBI has now increased its scope and intensified action in many states of the country. In this connection, raids have been conducted at six locations from where laptops, mobile phones and bank statements have been recovered. It is believed that after the custodial interrogation of Mandhare, many big revelations can be made about the middlemen, administrative insiders and money transactions involved in this entire racket.