IN THE NEET UG 2026 exam scandal, the CBI has arrested an NTA-appointed senior Botany teacher from Pune, as she is suspected to be the co-mastermind behind the leak of the Biology question paper, an official said on Saturday. Botany teacher Manisha Gurunath Mandhare is the second Pune teacher – after Chemistry professor P.V. Kulkarini – to be identified and arrested after interrogation, the CBI said in a statement. She was involved in the NEET-UG 2026 Examination process and appointed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) as an expert and had complete access to the Biology question paper, the CBI said. In April 2026, she had mobilised prospective NEET examination candidates through Pune consultant Manisha Wagmare, arrested on May 14, and conducted special coaching classes for these students at her Pune residence, the statement said.

 

During these classes, she explained and disclosed various questions from Biology and made the students note down the same in their notebooks and also mark these in their textbooks, the statement said. A majority of these questions tallied with the actual question paper of the NEET-UG 2026 examination held on May 3 and cancelled later, the probe agency said. In the last 24 hours, the CBI 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, an official said. It may be recalled that CBI registered this case on May 12 based on the written complaint given by the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India, pertaining to the alleged paper leak of NEET-UG 2026 Examination.

 

Centre appoints two joint secretaries, joint directors in NTA: THE Centre on Saturday appointed two each Joint Secretaries and Joint Directors in the National Testing Agency (NTA), which is under the heat over the NEET-UG paper leak. Anuja Bapat, a 1998-batch officer of Indian Statistical Service, and Ruchita Vij, a 2004-batch officer of Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Indirect Taxes), will be new joint secretaries in the NTA for five years, an order issued by the Personnel Ministry said. Akash Jain, an Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) officer, and Aditya Rajendra Bhojgadhiya, an Indian Audit and Accounts Service officer, have been named joint directors in the NTA, the Ministry said in a separate order. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case and formed teams to probe the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test- Undergraduate (NEET-UG) paper leak that resulted in the cancellation of the exam held on May 3.