The Central Bureau of Investigation arrested five people on Wednesday in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case, including the man who investigators believe first sent the question paper to the network — a BAMS graduate and practicing doctor from Ahilyanagar in Maharashtra who was also providing medical college admission counselling — and a family from Sikar who bought the paper for $15 lakh and sold onwards for $30 lakh.
The state police arrested two others on behalf of the CBI, as investigators mapped an entire financial chain stretching from Maharashtra through Haryana to the training belt of Rajasthan.
Dhananjay Lokhande, 26, from Rahuri tehsil in Ahilyanagar, is the first known node in the chain of leakage that will now require nearly 2.3 million medical college aspirants to retake the exam for which most spend months, if not years, preparing.
Lokhande, a BAMS graduate from Mangaluru who practices medicine in his home district, also provided medical college admissions counseling — a close relative of the NEET ecosystem that investigators are closely examining. He allegedly sent the so-called ‘assessment paper’ to Shubham Khernar, who paid the amount $10 lakh for that. He was recovered from his village in the early hours of Wednesday after a report from the Central Bank of Iraq.
The five officially arrested by CBI are Lokhande, Yash Yadav from Gurugram, Dinesh Biwal, his brother Mangilal Biwal, Mangilal’s son Vikas from Jamwa Ramgarh in Jaipur and Shubham Khairnar from Nashik. Khairnar was arrested by Maharashtra Police on Tuesday and his custody has since been transferred to the agency.
The Biwal and Vikas brothers were detained by the Rajasthan Special Operations Group on Monday for interrogation. The CBI formally arrested them on Wednesday morning.
Manisha Waghmar from Pune was also arrested by the state police on behalf of the CBI. Everyone is interrogated by the CBI in Jaipur. Khairnar is brought to Delhi for further interrogation.
The CBI team also visited the NTA headquarters in Delhi to collect documents related to the exam. A CBI spokesman said: “Several other suspects are currently being examined.” “The agency has formed multiple teams to investigate all aspects of the leak. Key persons involved in sharing the question paper are being traced. The CBI is following up on all leads through comprehensive technical and forensic analysis.” Incriminating materials and electronic devices, including mobile phones, were confiscated in multiple locations.
The money trail, investigators found, was: Lokhande sent the guess sheet to Khairnar for it. $10 lakh. Khairnar sold it to Yadav in Gurugram for $15 lakh. Yadav passed it on to the Bewal brothers $15 lakh. “Dinesh Bewal and his brother Mangilal Bewal received the guess sheet containing 120 questions for NEET-2026 from Yash Yadav from Haryana. They bought it for $15 lakh and then sell it in Sikar for a lump sum $30 lakhs,” the SOG said. The note then went to Rakesh Kumar, a consultant at Sikar Training Centre, who sold it to the owner of a PG training center and hostel – where it spread across Telegram channels across the country.
Waghmare, 46, who runs a beauty salon in Pune’s Bibvwadi – and whose husband is a dentist – is believed to have linked the students to Lokhande after accepting the payments. Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar confirmed her arrest. “Preliminary investigation suggests that Waghmar linked the students to Lokhande after accepting the payments. However, her exact role and the extent of her involvement will become clear only after detailed interrogation,” a police officer said.
JAIPUR: The arrest of Dinesh Bewal – BJP’s youth wing secretary in Jamua Ramgarh in 2014 – has added a political dimension to the investigation. The Biwals moved from Jamwa Ramgarh to Sikar four to five years ago and were running a money lending business.
BJP spokesperson Ram Lal Sharma moved quickly to distance the party. “Dinesh was not much active in the party. He was not appointed to any post after 2014. Police are investigating the matter. Necessary action will be taken against all the culprits.”
But Bewal’s Facebook account tells a different story about social closeness. It shows photographs with Rajasthan Education Minister Madan Dilawar from 2021 and more recent photos with local BJP MLA Mahendra Pal Meena – who three days ago shared a photo of Biwal on Facebook wishing him on his birthday. HT has seen the pictures.
The investigation has now expanded beyond the 2026 exam. The CBI, according to a Rajasthan SOG officer who requested anonymity, will look into whether the Biwal family used access to the leaked papers to benefit its members in previous exams.
Investigators said four candidates from Dinesh’s family – Mangilal’s two sons and two daughters of their late elder brother – had qualified for NEET last year; Two are in government medical colleges and two are in the private sector. Dinesh’s son Rishi appeared for NEET this year. “We suspect that Dinesh gave the paper to his son as well. It is also possible that they tried to commit some irregularities in the NEET exam the previous year. We are looking for them,” said a senior SOG officer, requesting anonymity. Four of Dinesh’s relatives are still at large.
Mangilal’s wife categorically rejected these accusations. “There is no truth in this. My husband and my brother-in-law were wrongly accused. 10 people picked up my husband from our house. It is a conspiracy,” she said.
