The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to file a charge sheet within a week's time in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, naming three teachers - PV Kulkarni, Manisha Mandhare and Manisha Havaldar - as the key individuals behind the leak of chemistry, biology and physics questions, respectively, people familiar with the development said.
The charge sheet will not name any National Testing Agency (NTA) official but officers said all aspects of the probe will be “kept open”. The charge sheet is being filed within 20 days of the agency taking over the case on May 12.
“We will file a charge sheet within a weeks’ time - most likely this week or early next week detailing how the NTA-empanelled professors/teachers, coaching middlemen and local facilitators who arranged prospective buyers ran an organised network to leak the NEET-UG 2026 exam questions, for which they charged in lakhs from each buyer,” said an officer, who asked not to be named.
“All other aspects of the probe like government officials’ role, money trail and other private persons involved in the larger conspiracy will be kept open,” he added.
CBI has so far arrested 11 accused including Kulkarni, a Latur based former chemistry lecturer; Mandhare, a Pune based botany lecturer, Havaldar, a Pune based physics teacher; Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, founder of a prominent Latur-based medical and engineering entrance test coaching centre; Manisha Waghmare, a beauty parlour owner who served as the key link between Kulkarni, Mandhare and the student network, and other middlemen and buyers, Dhananjay Lokhanda, Shubham Khairnar, Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal, Dinesh Biwal, and Yash Yadav.
{{/usCountry}}CBI has so far arrested 11 accused including Kulkarni, a Latur based former chemistry lecturer; Mandhare, a Pune based botany lecturer, Havaldar, a Pune based physics teacher; Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, founder of a prominent Latur-based medical and engineering entrance test coaching centre; Manisha Waghmare, a beauty parlour owner who served as the key link between Kulkarni, Mandhare and the student network, and other middlemen and buyers, Dhananjay Lokhanda, Shubham Khairnar, Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal, Dinesh Biwal, and Yash Yadav.
{{/usCountry}}It has also recovered leaked sets of questions from the now-cancelled NEET-UG 2026 paper, laptops, mobile phones and other devices, which are being analysed by the experts and retrieved details will be part of the charge sheet.
Primarily, CBI’s fortnight long investigation has identified the three NTA-contracted teachers behind leak for each subject papers: Kulkarni (arrested on May 15) for chemistry, Mandhare (arrested on May 16) for botany and zoology, and Havaldar (arrested on May 22) for physics. All three of them had accessed the questions days before the actual exam on May 3, the probe found.
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Kulkarni, according to a second CBI officer, was one of the chemistry paper-setters appointed by the NTA. He organised special coaching classes at his Pune residence in April 2026 with the help of Manisha Waghmare, where leaked chemistry questions, answer options and correct answers were dictated to selected students. The handwritten notes prepared by students matched the actual NEET paper.
As for Mandhare, CBI found that the botany lecturer had access to botany and zoology questions as early as April 27. She mobilised prospective students through co-accused Manisha Waghmare and held classes at her Pune residence where she explained and disclosed the questions and made the students note down the same in their notebooks.
According to the CBI probe, Havaldar, being a NTA-appointed physics expert, had “complete access” to the questions. She allegedly shared the questions with Mandhare and students. “It was a structured leak involving NTA contractors, middlemen and coaching-linked operators who monetised the access to enrich themselves and give an upper edge to some students. After the exam, they destroyed the question papers and other evidence,” said the second officer cited above.