NEET paper leak now linked to NTA official, question paper was out 6 days before the exam through beautician Manisha Waghmare.

New Delhi, 18 May. A very shocking revelation has come to light from the internal investigation report of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case. The strings of this entire scam now seem to be directly connected to the top officials of the examination conducting body ‘National Testing Agency’ (NTA). According to the investigation, beautician Manisha Waghmare, who was arrested from Pune, was in direct contact with an NTA official and through him the paper and its answers were leaked on April 27, 6 days before the exam.

It is impossible to leak without insider collusion.

According to the investigating agencies, the part of the NTA office where the paper is set is completely ‘confidential’. It is strictly prohibited to carry any kind of electronic gadget, mobile or pen there. It is impossible for the paper to come out of such a secure area without the connivance of an insider. The NTA officers who have come under suspicion may be those who have the main responsibility from forming the expert committee to finalizing the paper.

Fear of leaking of both sets, ‘mixed guess paper’ was made

According to CBI sources, both the sets (main and reserve papers) prepared for the NEET exam were leaked. The accused had cleverly prepared a ‘guess paper’ by mixing the questions of both the sets. This is the reason why many questions and their options in the leaked paper are exactly matching with the main paper of the exam. Questions worth 600 marks out of total 720 marks were leaked before the exam, which included:

1-Biology: All 90 questions matched.
2-Chemistry: 35 out of 45 questions were matched.
3-Physics: 15 questions were matched.

Evidence burnt immediately after examination

Investigation has revealed that the arrested accused Chemistry Professor PV Kulkarni and Botany Lecturer Manisha Mandhare had taken special classes for the students at the behest of Manisha Waghmare. In return, the accused received lakhs of rupees through cash and bank transfer. To hide the rigging, that paper was burnt as soon as the examination ended on May 3 and all the data on the laptop including WhatsApp and Telegram chats was deleted. At present CBI is busy recovering these digital evidence.

Strict action by the government: Major reshuffle in NTA

After this big revelation and disturbance, the Central Government has taken strict action at the administrative level. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has appointed four new top officials in NTA with immediate effect. Among these, Anuja Bapat and Ruchita Vij have been made joint secretaries, while Akash Jain and Aditya Rajendra Bhojgadia have been made joint directors. CBI has now intensified its investigation to reach the main architects of this entire network and the officials sitting within NTA.