The two National Testing Agency (NTA) subject experts arrested in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case were not only involved in setting questions — they were also assigned to translate the question paper into Marathi, giving them access to the final chemistry and biology sections of the examination, people familiar with the investigation said on Thursday.
Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, a biology expert at Pune’s Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce arrested on May 16, translated 90 biology questions — 45 each from botany and zoology. PV Kulkarni, a retired chemistry lecturer from Dayanand Junior College arrested on May 15, translated 45 chemistry questions. Together, the two had access to all 135 questions from the two subjects through their translation assignments — in addition to whatever access they had as paper-setters.
The translation process, a person aware of the probe explained, involves two independent layers. “Apart from three or four subject experts who prepare the paper, the process of setting question papers in English and 12 regional languages involves two separate sets of translators — one translates the paper into regional languages and another independently translates it back into English to verify accuracy,” the person said.
The back-translation is a verification mechanism, but it means the paper passes through multiple sets of hands before it is finalised. “Since both experts are Marathi speakers, their services were used for translation along with other translators. Investigators have found that this gave them access to all final chemistry and biology questions,” the person added.
{{/usCountry}}The back-translation is a verification mechanism, but it means the paper passes through multiple sets of hands before it is finalised. “Since both experts are Marathi speakers, their services were used for translation along with other translators. Investigators have found that this gave them access to all final chemistry and biology questions,” the person added.
{{/usCountry}}NTA conducts NEET-UG in 13 languages — English and 12 regional languages — and the translation chain, which involves contractual staff, has now emerged as a structural vulnerability in the paper-setting architecture.
Six of the 10 persons arrested by the CBI so far are from Maharashtra — a concentration that investigators are examining. CBI officials have told HT that the “entire committee that set the paper and other senior officers of NTA are under the scanner.”