The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested the second alleged mastermind in the National Eligibility Test (NEET)-UG 2026 question paper leak case – a biology lecturer who was part of the paper preparation committee of the National Testing Agency (NTA) – a day after the arrest of retired chemistry lecturer PV Kulkarni, whom investigators have described as the ringleader of the racket, senior officials said.
The lecturer, identified as Manisha Mandari, was questioned by the agency and arrested on Saturday.
Mandhare, according to officials, also used the same modus operandi as Kulkarni — dictating the leaked questions, complete with answer options and correct answers, to a class of students who had each paid several thousand rupees to attend.
The CBI investigation revealed that “two sets of question papers – one handwritten and one typed – had been leaked from NTA” and that Kulkarni and Mandhari were behind it.
The officials said that “the entire committee that prepared the newspaper and other senior officials of the NTA are under scrutiny” and that more arrests may be made in the coming days.
“This is the first time in the paper leak investigations that we have found the source of a leak in NTA. Once the paper was leaked and its PDF files were posted on messaging groups, there could have been hundreds of beneficiaries. We will trace them all but first we are working on the source of the leak and their accomplices,” said an officer requesting anonymity.
According to investigators, Kulkarni mobilized the students during the last week of April with the help of his co-accused Manisha Waghmar, who runs a beauty salon and collects funds. She was arrested earlier this week.
At his residence in Pune, Kulkarni allegedly dictated questions, multiple choice options and correct answers to the students present, who made handwritten notes in their notebooks.
The CBI also mapped the chain through which the newspaper moved after Kulkarni’s lessons. Nashik-based Shubham Khairnar allegedly told Gurugram-based Yash Yadav in April that a man named Mangilal — identified in official records and court documents as Mangilal Bewal and Mangalal Khatik — was willing to pay $10-12 thousand for the leaked papers of his younger son. On April 29, Khairnar allegedly told Yadav that he could submit questions in physics, chemistry and biology – nearly 500-600 in total – which could “guarantee admission to reputed medical colleges”, and asked Yadav to get documents for classes 10 and 12, NEET registration number, and a check from Mangilal as a security deposit.
On the same day, Yadav allegedly received PDF files of the leaked papers via Telegram and sent them to Mangilal. Their deal was allegedly conditional on approximately 150 questions matching the actual paper, in exchange for payment of 150 questions. $10 lakh. Mangilal allegedly provided printouts to three family members who appeared in the exam, to his son Vikas’s friends, and to teacher Satyanarayan. He is also alleged to have provided papers containing the answer sheets in exchange for money. The Central Bureau of Investigation recovered incriminating evidence from Mangilal’s mobile phone.
So far, eight people have been arrested in five states in four days: Kulkarni and Waghmare from Pune; Dhananjay Lokhanda from Ahilyanagar; Khairnar from Nashik; Mangilal Bewal, also known as Mangilal Khatik, Vikas Bewal and Dinesh Bewal of Jaipur; Yadav is from Gurugram.
