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Woman from Pune, man from Ahilyanagar held in NEET-UG paper leak case
The development comes a day after Nashik city police detained 27-year-old BAMS student Shubham Khairnar from his residence in Indiranagar, Nashik. He was later formally arrested by the CBI on Tuesday night
Pune city police and Ahilyanagar police detained two persons on Wednesday, including a woman beautician from Pune, in connection with the alleged NEET-UG paper leak case being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The two accused—Manisha Waghmare, 46, from Pune and Dhananjay Lokhande, 26, from Ahilyanagar district—were subsequently handed over to the CBI for further investigation.
City police commissioner Amitesh Kumar said the woman was detained from Bibvewadi. “We questioned her and handed her over to the CBI for further probe,” he said.
The development comes a day after Nashik city police detained 27-year-old BAMS student Shubham Khairnar from his residence in Indiranagar, Nashik. He was later formally arrested by the CBI on Tuesday night.
According to Pune police sources, Waghmare was detained from the Bibwewadi-Katraj area around noon on Wednesday. She runs a beauty parlour in the locality, while her husband is a dentist. Investigators suspect she was in contact with one of the accused involved in the alleged paper leak racket and may have acted as an intermediary.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, deputy commissioner of police (crime) Vivek Masal confirmed the development. “Based on inputs shared by the CBI, we traced the suspect and handed her over to the CBI. Further investigation is being carried out by the CBI,” he said.
Pune police sources said CBI officials shared Lokhande’s details with them after tracing his location to the city. During the follow-up probe, investigators found that Waghmare was allegedly in contact with him, following which she came under the police radar.
Police have seized Waghmare’s mobile phone and laptop. Preliminary examination reportedly revealed calls and messages exchanged between her and Lokhande. Investigators suspect she may have been acting as a link between aspiring medical students and Lokhande in exchange for money.
“Initial investigation suggests that Waghmare connected students to Lokhande after accepting payments. However, her exact role and the scale of her involvement will become clear only after detailed interrogation,” a police source said.
Meanwhile, Ahilyanagar police detained Lokhande from his native village in Rahuri tehsil during the early hours of Wednesday.
A senior Ahilyanagar police officer said a team reached his residence around 2 am following input from the CBI. Investigators suspect Lokhande had taken refuge in the village after learning that the CBI had intensified its probe and that Khairnar had been arrested in Nashik.
Lokhande completed his BAMS degree from a medical college in Mangaluru more than two years ago and had been residing in the Wagholi area of Pune. Besides practising medicine, he was also allegedly involved in counselling and consultancy work related to medical college admissions.
According to Nashik police sources, Lokhande allegedly couriered a packet containing the NEET question paper to Khairnar, who is believed to have paid him ₹10 lakh for it.
During questioning, Khairnar allegedly told investigators that he had electronically forwarded the question paper to a person based in Gurugram, Haryana, for which he received ₹15 lakh.
Investigators are now probing the money trail, communication records, and the larger network behind the alleged leak. The CBI is also examining how the accused obtained access to the confidential examination papers and whether more students or middlemen were involved in the racket.
