The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has concluded that no government official — including NTA office officials — was involved in the leak of NEET UG 2026 papers, as investigators determined that the question papers were siphoned off from the National Testing Agency by teachers contracted by the agency to recruit them, people familiar with the development said.
The agency will file its indictment this month. All the 13 people arrested in the case are private individuals, including three teachers who were allegedly at the heart of the leaks – PV Kulkarni for Chemistry, Manisha Mandar for Biology and Manisha Havaldar for Physics. “In the last two months, we have not come across any evidence to suggest that any government official, including NTA office officials, was involved in leaking the papers. The question papers were leaked by expert paper preparation teachers contracted by NTA,” said an officer, requesting anonymity.
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The absence of government officials from the indictment has a procedural consequence: the CBI would not need to obtain a prosecution sanction before filing a case.
The agency is currently analyzing the voluminous records – thousands of documents collected from NTA, arrested individuals, students and training centers in multiple cities, as well as call detail records from as many as 170 mobile phones, laptops and hard drives.
The indictment will consolidate the results of the investigation into the three teachers. Kulkarni, one of the preparers of the NTA chemistry papers, organized private coaching classes at his residence in Pune in April 2026 with the help of co-accused Manisha Waghmar, where the leaked chemistry questions with answer options and correct answers were dictated to selected students; Their handwritten notes matched the actual paper.
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Mandhare, a botany lecturer, was able to access the botany and zoology questions as early as April 27; She mobilized students through Waghmare and held classes at her residence in Pune where she revealed the questions and made the students write them down.
Havaldar, a physics expert with “full access” to physics questions, allegedly shared them with Mandhare and students.
As HT reported last month, after the charge sheet is filed, the CBI will also send a detailed assessment report to the government and the National Tourism Agency, listing the flaws in the examination process and recommending systemic changes to prevent their recurrence.
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The agency could recommend a complete revamp of the existing screening processes conducted by the NTA, on the lines of the Union Public Service Commission’s transparency and security protocols, along with improved oversight of the examinations conducted by the NTA.
