The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested another key accused in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case, identifying her as the source of the leaked physics questions.
The accused, Manisha Sanjay Havaldar, is currently employed at Seth Hiralal Saraf Prashala in Pune, Maharashtra. According to the CBI, she was involved in the NEET-UG 2026 examination process and had been appointed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) as an expert, giving her complete access to the physics question papers.
Investigators alleged that Havaldar played a crucial role in leaking the physics section of the examination paper. She is the 11th person arrested by the CBI in connection with the case.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) had asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe whether Physics questions from the NEET-UG 2026 examination were also leaked.
This came amid suspicions that the circulated guess papers may have been sourced from the agency’s confidential backup question paper set, in addition to the Chemistry and Biology questions already confirmed to have been sold to students for up to ₹30 lakh at least a week before the May 3 exam, people aware of the matter said on Wednesday.
Investigators suspect the leaked PDFs may have included material from multiple sets because of the sheer volume of questions.
The Chemistry document alone carried 104 solved questions - nearly double the 45 that appeared in the actual exam - fuelling concerns that some may have come from alternate or contingency sets prepared in case the main paper was compromised.
So far, the CBI has arrested 10 people in connection with the case, including Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, founder of a coaching centre in Latur; PV Kulkarni, a retired Chemistry lecturer from Pune; and Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, a Botany teacher based in Pune. Both Kulkarni and Mandhare were part of NTA’s NEET-UG 2026 expert panel.
NTA conducted NEET-UG on May 3, with more than 2.27 million candidates appearing for the pen-and-paper examination comprising 180 questions - 45 each in Physics and Chemistry, and 90 in Biology.x
