From experts to accused: Prominent Pune faces in NEET-UG paper leak

Manisha Mandhare

Another ‘Manisha’ arrested in the case, Mandhare was a senior biology teacher at the Pune Modern Junior College of Science, Arts and Commerce. She had been working with the college since 2002 and the National Testing Agency, which conducts NEET-UG exam, had named her an expert. The CBI arrested her on May 16. Manisha Mandhare, it is alleged, conducted special coaching classes at her residence. During these classes, she allegedly leaked several questions from the Botany and Zoology papers for the NEET-UG exam.

Manisha Havaldar

The third ‘Manisha’ arrested in the case is Manisha Havaldar, principal of the Seth Hiralal Saraf Prashala in Pune’s Budhwar Peth. A physics teacher who joined the school in 1992, she was set to retire in less than two months. The CBI arrested her on May 22. The NTA had appointed Manisha Havaldar as an expert, and she had access to the physics question papers for NEET-UG. She allegedly leaked questions from the physics paper.

The leak, and the outrage

On May 12, the NTA cancelled the NEET-UG exam that over 22 lakh students took on May 3. The agency confirmed overlaps between the question paper and ‘guess papers’ doing the rounds before the test. The cancellation sparked nationwide outrage as students complained that their hard work had come to naught. The investigation was handed over to the CBI, which has arrested 10 accused so far, most of them from Maharashtra.

Shubham Khairnar

The first person to be arrested in the case was Shubham Khairnar from Nashik. The 27-year-old was arrested for allegedly buying the papers for Rs 10 lakh and selling them for Rs 15 lakh per copy. Khairnar ran a medical education consultancy firm in Nashik and referred to himself as ‘Dr’ though he never completed his BAMS degree, according to the university.

Dhananjay Lokhande

Another accused is Dhananjay Lokhande, a 30-year-old Ayurvedic practitioner from Ahilyanagar. The CBI has said Lokhande got the question papers from Manisha Waghmare and passed them on to Khairnar.

PV Kulkarni

Prahlad Vitthal Kulkarni, a retired chemistry teacher from Latur’s Dayanand Science College (Junior), allegedly organised coaching sessions at his Pune home during which students were “taught the leaked material”, the CBI has said.

Shivaraj Motegaonkar

Another arrested accused is Shivaraj Motegaonkar, founder of Renukai Coaching Centre, which runs from multiple locations in Maharashtra. The CBI has alleged that Motegaonkar was close to PV Kulkarni, and searches at his institute and residence had led to the recovery of a chemistry question bank with the same questions that appeared in the NEET exam. Motegaonkar started his coaching classes in 1999 and Kulkarni briefly taught at his coaching centre. In fact, Motegaonkar’s son appeared for the NEET-UG paper on May 3. The CBI has also questioned his son and wife.

Manoj Shirure

On May 27, the CBI said it had arrested Dr Manoj Shirure, a Latur-based doctor. He allegedly played a key role in facilitating three students, including the son of an accused coaching centre owner, in getting chemistry papers from PV Kulkarni. Along with Dr Shirure, CBI arrested Tejas Shah, the Chief Operating Officer and physics faculty at the Dr Abhang Prabhu Medical Academy located in Shivajinagar, Pune. Shah was allegedly in touch with Havaldar and got access to the physics question paper leaked by her.