2 min readNew DelhiUpdated: May 22, 2026 07:03 PM IST
Days after arresting two teachers, appointed by the National Testing Agency (NTA), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested another teacher, who was involved in the examination process and allegedly involved in the NEET‑UG 2026 Physics paper, officials said.
“The accused, identified as Manisha Sanjay Havaldar, is presently employed at Seth Hiralal Saraf Prashala in Pune and had been appointed by National Testing Agency (NTA) as an expert involved in the examination process. She had complete access to the Physics question papers for NEET‑UG 2026 and, during April 2026, she shared a number of Physics questions with co‑accused Manisha Mandhare, who was arrested earlier on May 16,” a CBI spokesperson said.
According to the CBI, the probe has revealed that the questions shared by Havaldar have been matched and tallied with the Physics questions that featured in the NEET‑UG 2026 examination paper sets.
Arrested last week, Mandhare, a Biology subject expert from Pune’s Modern College of Arts, is learnt to have translated questions from both Botany and Zoology sections, giving her access to a wider portion of the paper than previously known.
Another arrested expert, retired Chemistry lecturer P V Kulkarni of Dayanand Junior College in Latur, was reportedly involved in translating the paper into Marathi.
The CBI has also found that Mandhare conspired with other co-accused, including Manisha Waghmare and Kulkarni.
“Searches carried out at various locations across the country have led to seizure of several incriminating documents, laptops, bank statements and mobile phones. Detailed forensic and forensic‑digital analysis of the seized items is under way,” the CBI added.
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So far, a total of 11 accused have been arrested in connection with the probe from across several cities including Delhi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Nashik, Pune, Latur and Ahliyanagar, the CBI said.
