In a major breakthrough, the CBI has arrested retired Pune professor P. V. Kulkarni for leaking the medical entrance exam to students. The pan-India racket has led to eight arrests across multiple states.
NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested the alleged mastermind and primary source of the NEET-UG 2026 question paper leak, cracking open a highly organized, multi-state conspiracy that has compromised the future of nearly 22 lakh medical aspirants.
The arrested kingpin, identified as P. V. Kulkarni, is a retired college professor and Chemistry lecturer originally hailing from Latur. According to central investigators, Kulkarni was directly associated with the examination process on behalf of the National Testing Agency (NTA) and had served on the panel that sets the NEET question paper, giving him authorized, direct access to the highly confidential test material.
The Pune ‘Tuition’ Racket
The investigation has exposed a meticulous operation run out of Kulkarni’s residence in Pune during the final week of April, just days before the nationwide exam on May 3.
The CBI revealed that Kulkarni, with the assistance of co-accused Manisha Waghmare—a local beauty parlour owner who acted as an agent—mobilized a select circle of students under the guise of “career counselling.”
“During these special coaching sessions, the lecturer dictated the questions along with their multiple-choice options and correct answers,” a senior CBI official stated. “Students transcribed the dictated material into their personal notebooks. A subsequent technical evaluation proved that these handwritten notes exactly matched the actual Chemistry section of the exam.”
Middlemen reportedly charged desperate students and parents lakhs of rupees to secure an exclusive seat in these clandestine, highly lucrative sessions.
The Pan-India Supply Chain
While the leak originated in Maharashtra, the distribution of the stolen material rapidly evolved into a pan-India operation. The stolen data was compiled into a 281-question “guess paper” that perfectly integrated all 90 Biology questions and all 45 Chemistry questions featured in the actual exam.
The investigation has unravelled a massive network extending into several key educational hubs:
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Maharashtra (Pune, Latur, Nashik, Ahilyanagar): The source region. Investigators found that a local conduit, Dhananjay Lokhande (26), mailed physical copies of the leaked paper from Pune to Nashik-based career counsellor Shubham Khairnar.
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Rajasthan (Jaipur, Sikar): The commercial epicentre. Local middlemen Mangi Lal and Dinesh Biwal—who allegedly possess a history of academic fraud—procured the leaked papers and distributed them to coaching hubs in Sikar, selling digital PDFs via encrypted Telegram links for upward of ₹15 lakh to ₹30 lakh each.
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Haryana (Gurugram): Serving as a transit bridge, local suspects helped relay the digital leaks across state lines from Maharashtra up to northern education hubs.
Eight Arrests and Counting
With Kulkarni’s capture following a lengthy interrogation in Pune, the total number of individuals arrested by the premier central agency has risen to eight.
Earlier this week, the CBI arrested key links including Dhananjay Lokhande, Manisha Waghmare, Shubham Khairnar, Yash Yadav (Gurugram), alongside Mangi Lal, Vikas Biwal, and Dinesh Biwal (Jaipur).
Five of the primary accused have already been presented before a competent court in Delhi and remanded to seven days of strict police custody. The remaining suspects are currently being transported to New Delhi on transit remands for coordinated, face-to-face interrogations.
Massive Raids Underway
Over the past 24 hours, special CBI units have executed extensive raids across 14 locations nationwide. The agency has seized a massive cache of encrypted mobile devices, tablets, laptops, and financial documents. Digital forensics teams are working round-the-clock to map the delete logs and financial transactions linked to the racket.
The Ministry of Education, acting on a formal complaint from the Department of Higher Education, had transferred the case to the CBI on May 12, following which the NTA officially cancelled the compromised May 3 exam.
The CBI maintains that further arrests of prominent coaching institute owners and regional middlemen are highly imminent as the trail expands.
RE-EXAMINATION UPDATE: Following the widespread cancellation, the National Testing Agency has announced that the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination will officially take place on June 21, 2026, under freshly revised, ultra-secure testing protocols.
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