The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two more people, a Latur (Maharashtra)-based doctor and a physics teacher at a Pune coaching centre, in connection with the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate or NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, taking the number of people arrested in the case to 13.
The CBI is set to file its first charge sheet in the case. (X)
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The agency identified the two as Manoj Shirure and Tejas Harshadkumar Shah. The CBI said Shirure, the doctor, “played a key role in facilitating three students, including the son of an accused coaching centre owner, in getting the Chemistry questions from the accused P V Kulkarni”.
Shah, the CBI said, teaches physics at Dr Abhang Prabhu Medical Academy in Pune. “He got the leaked Physics questions of NEET-UG 2026 exam from the arrested accused Manisha Havaldar,” the CBI said in a statement.
The CBI has raided 49 locations as part of its probe into the leak. HT on Tuesday reported that it is set to file its first charge sheet in the case naming teachers Kulkarni, Manisha Mandhare, and Havaldar as the key people behind the leak of chemistry, biology, and physics questions.
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People aware of the matter said the charge sheet will not name any National Testing Agency official, even as all aspects of the probe will be “kept open”. “Investigation to unearth the chain as well as the conspiracy in this case is ongoing,” the agency said on Wednesday.
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People aware of the matter said the charge sheet will not name any National Testing Agency official, even as all aspects of the probe will be “kept open”. “Investigation to unearth the chain as well as the conspiracy in this case is ongoing,” the agency said on Wednesday.
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The CBI said the investigation is continuing, and its teams are working in tandem to identify the actual source of the leak before the exam.
Neeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in India’s internal security and law-enforcement landscape. Neeraj has extensively covered India’s principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption. He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence. Some of Neeraj’s major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ₹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several years—from the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings. He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship. He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of Tübingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism. Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on India’s national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the country’s most complex and consequential developments.
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Home/India News/NEET-UG 2026 paper leak: 2 more accused arrested
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