The two National Testing Agency (NTA) experts in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case were not only involved in developing the questions, but were also tasked with translating the question paper into Marathi, giving them access to the final chemistry and biology sections of the exam, people familiar with the investigation said on Thursday.
Manisha Gurunath Mandhari, a biology expert at Pune Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, who was arrested on May 16, translated 90 questions from biology – 45 from botany and zoology. PV Kulkarni, a retired chemistry lecturer from Dayanand Junior College, who was arrested on May 15, translated 45 chemistry questions. Together the two had access to all 135 questions from the two topics through their translation assignments – in addition to any access they had as editors of the papers.
A person familiar with the probe explained that the translation process includes two independent layers. “Apart from three or four subject matter experts who prepare the paper, the process of preparing question papers in English and 12 regional languages involves two separate sets of translators – one translating the paper into the regional languages and the other independently translating it into English to check accuracy,” the person said.
Back translation is a verification mechanism, but it means that the paper passes through multiple sets of hands before it is finalized. “Since both experts speak Marathi, their translation services were used alongside other translators. Investigators found that this gave them access to all final chemistry and biology questions,” the person added.
NTA conducts NEET-UG in 13 languages - English and 12 regional languages - and the translation chain, involving contractual staff, has now emerged as a structural weakness in the paper preparation structure.
Six of the 10 people arrested by the CBI so far are from Maharashtra – a focus that investigators are examining. “The entire committee that prepared the paper and other senior officials of NTA are under scrutiny,” CBI officials told HT.
