Botany Expert Accused of Sharing Exam Questions With Students

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday arrested Manisha Gurunath Mandhare in connection with the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak investigation.

According to the agency, Mandhare is a senior Botany teacher from Pune and had been appointed as an expert by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for the NEET-UG examination process.

Investigators alleged that she had complete access to the Botany and Zoology question papers and used that access to facilitate the leak of Biology-related questions ahead of the examination.

The CBI said the accused allegedly mobilised NEET aspirants through Manisha Wagmare, who had earlier been arrested on May 14, and conducted special coaching sessions for selected students at her residence in Pune.

Officials stated that nine accused have so far been arrested in the case from multiple cities including Delhi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Nashik, Pune and Ahilyanagar.

Five of the accused have already been produced before the court and remanded to seven days of police custody for detailed interrogation. Two other accused arrested earlier were produced before a Pune court and subsequently shifted to Delhi after obtaining transit remand.

The CBI also conducted searches at six locations across the country over the past 24 hours. During the raids, officials seized several incriminating documents, laptops, bank records, and mobile phones that are expected to aid the investigation.

The NEET-UG 2026 examination was cancelled following allegations of large-scale irregularities and paper leaks. The re-examination is scheduled to be held on June 21, while the government has also announced plans to shift NEET to a computer-based format from next year.