‘She was a very normal teacher’: CBI arrests another teacher from Pune in NEET-UG paper leak case

“During these special classes, she explained and disclosed various questions from Botany and Zoology subjects and made the students note down the same in their notebooks and also mark them in their textbooks. The majority of these questions tallied with the actual question paper of NEET-UG 2026 Examination held on May 3,” the spokesperson said.

Indian Youth Congress (IYC) activists protest against Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak at Teen Murti Circle, in New Delhi on Saturday. (ANI Photo)

Mandhare has a MSc in Botany and was working at Pune’s Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce since 2002 and was set to retire in seven months. She had been working for the National Testing Agency (NTA) for at least the past five years, said Principal Prof Nivedita Ekbote.

Ekbote said she heard “about her arrest through news channels”.

The principal said that the NTA and Mandhare had a direct contact and the college wasn’t “involved due to confidentiality (of setting papers)”.

“We have no idea when she goes and when they do the paper settings. She just applies for leaves and goes, we can’t even ask about that. No such incident involving her has occurred at our college in the past. She was a very normal teacher,” Principal Ekbote added.

The Indian Express had reported that the CBI had asked the Ministry of Education to provide a list of persons involved in the procedure of preparing the question papers on behalf of the NTA. “After getting the list of all the professors and their office staff, the CBI is scanning their phone records and trying to find a link between the six arrested accused and any of them,” a source said.

The NEET-UG 2026 exam was cancelled following an alleged paper leak, with a retest now scheduled for June 21.

The agency said the investigation had so far uncovered the “actual source” behind the leak of both Chemistry and Biology papers, along with the network of middlemen who allegedly mobilised students and collected lakhs of rupees to get them access to the special classes.

Mandhare’s arrest comes a day after the CBI arrested P V Kulkarni from Pune, identifying him as the source of the NEET-UG 2026 examination paper leaks. “Kulkarni was involved in the examination process on behalf of the NTA. He had access to the question papers, and he had organised special coaching classes with the help of Waghmare at his Pune residence during the last week of April 2026, in which students were allegedly mobilised and taught the leaked material,” an official said. Kulkarni was a chemistry lecturer at the Dayanand Junior College in Latur.

Investigators are now probing whether candidates were selected through coaching networks and personal contacts, and whether handwritten notes prepared during these sessions were circulated further.

The developments have intensified scrutiny of private coaching networks in Maharashtra, particularly in Pune and Latur, which are major hubs for medical entrance coaching.

In the last 24 hours, the CBI has also conducted searches at six locations across the country and seized several incriminating documents, laptops, bank statements and mobile phones. “Detailed analysis of the seized items is going on,” the spokesperson added.

So far, nine accused have been arrested from Delhi, Jaipur, Gurgaon, Nashik, Pune and Ahilyanagar. Of these, five have already been remanded to seven days of police custody. Two accused arrested earlier were produced before a Pune court, granted transit remand and shifted to Delhi, where they are being produced before the court.

(With inputs from Vallabh Ozarkar)