CBI arrests Pune prof. in NEET case, says chemistry expert was source of leak
Agency alleges accused dictated leaked NEET questions during private coaching sessions attended by students who paid lakhs
Three days into its investigation on the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, the CBI on Friday claimed to have identified and arrested the “source” of the leak — a Pune-based chemistry professor accused of sharing confidential questions with students ahead of the examination.
The accused, identified as Professor P.V. Kulkarni, is a chemistry domain expert from Latur who had reportedly served for several years on panels involved in setting NEET question papers. He was taken into custody from his residence in Pune following what the agency described as extensive interrogation.
“P.V. Kulkarni has been arrested at Pune after thorough interrogation,” a CBI spokesperson said. According to the agency, Kulkarni allegedly misused his access to confidential examination material by conducting special coaching sessions at his residence during the last week of April, where he dictated questions, answer options and solutions that later appeared in the NEET-UG examination conducted on 3 May.
The CBI alleged that students paid several lakh rupees to attend these sessions. “During the last week of April 2026, he had mobilised students, with the help of another accused namely Manisha Waghmare, who was arrested on 14 May by CBI,” the spokesperson said.
Investigators claimed students attending the sessions wrote down the dictated questions in notebooks and later found them to “tally exactly” with the actual NEET-UG question paper.
The agency said its probe had uncovered both the original source of the leaked chemistry paper and the network of middlemen allegedly involved in recruiting students willing to pay large sums for access to the leaked material.
“In the last 24 hours, CBI has also conducted searches at several locations across the country and seized several incriminating documents, electronic gadgets and mobile phones,” the spokesperson said. The agency added that forensic and technical analysis of the seized material was currently underway.
On Thursday, the CBI had arrested Dhananjay Lokhande from Ahilyanagar and his associate Manisha Waghmare from Pune in connection with the case. According to investigators, Lokhande allegedly received the leaked paper from Waghmare and passed it on to Nashik-based Shubham Khairnar, who then shared it with Yash Yadav for further circulation.
The agency has also arrested three individuals from Jaipur — Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal and Dinesh Biwal — besides Yadav from Gurugram and Khairnar from Nashik. CBI officials alleged that Khairnar had informed Yadav in April that Mangilal Biwal was willing to pay Rs 10-12 lakh to obtain leaked NEET-UG 2026 questions for his younger son.
Investigators claimed Khairnar later shared between 500 and 600 questions with Yadav, allegedly promising that the material would ensure enough marks to secure admission to a reputable medical college.
According to the agency, Mangilal Biwal procured the leaked questions from Yadav, who was allegedly acquainted with his elder son Vikas Biwal, through a NEET coaching centre in Rajasthan’s Sikar. The alleged deal between Mangilal Biwal and Yadav was struck for Rs 10 lakh, officials said.
Investigators further alleged that Mangilal Biwal shared the leaked material with his son and later distributed it among relatives. Yadav allegedly also encouraged Vikas Biwal to identify more NEET aspirants to whom the leaked questions could be sold in order to recover part of the money involved in the deal.
The CBI said analysis of seized digital devices had already yielded incriminating chats, leaked question papers and other electronic evidence. Officials added that the devices would undergo forensic examination to retrieve deleted data.
The agency has registered an FIR and formed multiple teams to investigate the alleged paper leak, which led to the cancellation of the NEET-UG examination held on 3 May.
The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test was conducted across 551 cities in India and 14 overseas centres. Nearly 23 lakh candidates had registered for the examination, which was administered by the National Testing Agency.
According to the NTA, information regarding alleged malpractice was received on the evening of 7 May, four days after the examination was conducted. The agency said the inputs were forwarded to central agencies the following morning for “independent verification and necessary action”.
With PTI inputs