NEW DELHI, May 16 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday claimed to have cracked the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case with the arrest of a Pune-based professor accused of being the main source of the leaked question paper.
Professor P V Kulkarni, a chemistry expert from Latur who had been associated with panels involved in setting NEET question papers, was arrested from his residence in Pune after extensive interrogation, officials said.
According to the CBI, Kulkarni allegedly misused his privileged access to confidential examination material and conducted special coaching sessions at his residence during the last week of April, where he dictated questions, options and answers that later appeared in the NEET-UG examination held on May 3.
“P V Kulkarni has been arrested at Pune after thorough interrogation,” a CBI spokesperson said.
The agency alleged that Kulkarni mobilised students with the help of co-accused Manisha Waghmare, who was arrested on May 14. Students reportedly paid several lakh rupees to attend the sessions, during which they noted down questions that allegedly matched the actual examination paper.
The CBI said its investigation has identified both the source of the chemistry paper leak and the network of middlemen involved in circulating the questions among aspirants.
“In the last 24 hours, CBI has conducted searches at multiple locations across the country and seized incriminating documents, electronic gadgets and mobile phones,” the spokesperson said, adding that forensic and technical analysis of the seized material is underway.
Earlier, the agency had arrested Dhananjay Lokhande from Ahilyanagar and Manisha Waghmare from Pune in connection with the case.
Investigators found that Lokhande allegedly received the leaked paper from Waghmare and passed it on to Nashik-based Shubham Khairnar, who further circulated it to Yash Yadav and others.
The CBI has also arrested Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal and Dinesh Biwal from Jaipur, along with Yadav from Gurugram and Khairnar from Nashik.
According to officials, Khairnar informed Yadav in April that Mangilal Biwal was willing to pay Rs 10-12 lakh to obtain leaked NEET questions for his younger son.
Khairnar allegedly shared 500 to 600 questions with Yadav, claiming they would help secure enough marks for admission to a reputed medical college.
Officials said Mangilal Biwal procured the leaked paper from Yadav through his elder son Vikas Biwal, who knew Yadav from a NEET coaching institute in Rajasthan’s Sikar district. The deal was reportedly finalised for Rs 10 lakh.
The paper was allegedly shared further among relatives, while Yadav also encouraged Vikas Biwal to find more NEET aspirants to whom the leaked questions could be sold.
The CBI said digital analysis of seized devices has revealed incriminating chats, leaked papers and other evidence. Forensic examination is being carried out to retrieve deleted data as part of the ongoing investigation.
The federal agency registered an FIR after the alleged leak led to the cancellation of the NEET-UG examination conducted on May 3.
The examination was held across 551 cities in India and 14 overseas centres, with nearly 23 lakh candidates registered for the test conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
The NTA stated that information regarding alleged malpractice was received on May 7, four days after the examination, and was immediately forwarded to central agencies for verification and necessary action.
