NEET paper leak: NTA-linked teacher arrested by CBI in Delhi
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New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested a botany teacher from Pune in connection with the expanding NEET paper leak case, uncovering what investigators describe as an organised racket involving insider access, special coaching sessions and the distribution of leaked question papers to students before the national medical entrance examination.
The accused, Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, who had been appointed by the National Testing Agency as an examination expert, was arrested in Delhi, taking the total number of arrests in the case to nine. According to the CBI, Mandhare conducted special coaching sessions for students in April ahead of the examination and allegedly provided crucial questions that later appeared in the actual NEET exam conducted on May 3.
Investigators said Mandhare came into contact with students through another accused, Manisha Waghmare, who had earlier been arrested from Pune. During classes reportedly conducted at her residence, Mandhare allegedly marked important questions from Botany and Zoology in textbooks and dictated likely questions to students. The CBI has now confirmed that those questions matched the final examination paper almost exactly.
The investigation has also revealed the alleged involvement of chemistry teacher P. V. Kulkarni, described as one of the key masterminds behind the leak. Kulkarni, who was recently arrested, was allegedly linked directly to NTA examination procedures and had access to confidential question papers.
According to the probe, Kulkarni and Waghmare jointly trained students during the last week of April by making them memorise chemistry questions and answers that later appeared in the examination. The leaked material was allegedly distributed through expensive “special coaching” programmes for lakhs of rupees.
In the last 24 hours, the CBI conducted raids at six locations across India and seized laptops, mobile phones, bank records and other key documents. Arrests have so far been made from Delhi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Nashik, Pune and Ahilya Nagar.