Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested another key accused in the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case.
Manisha Sanjay Havaldar was taken into custody after extensive interrogation for her alleged involvement in the leak of Physics paper questions of NEET-UG 2026, which was cancelled 10 days ago.
The CBI said its investigation has uncovered the “actual source” of the leak.
Manisha, who is employed at Seth Hiralal Saraf Prashala in Pune, was involved in the NEET-UG 2026 process as an expert appointed by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
“The CBI has identified another key accused who was the source for the leak of NEET-UG 2026 physics questions,” the central probe agency said.
“She was involved in the NEET UG 2026 examination process and appointed by NTA as an expert. She had complete access to the Physics question paper. During April 2026, she shared some of the questions of the NEET UG 2026 examination pertaining to Physics subject with co-accused Manisha Mandhare, already arrested on 16-05-2026,” CBI added.
Investigators said the questions shared by Manisha matched those that eventually appeared in the Physics sections of multiple NEET-UG paper sets.
The CBI, which has conducted searches at several locations across the country and seized multiple incriminating materials including laptops, mobile phones, bank statements and documents, said forensic and technical analysis of the seized material is underway.
Having registered a case on the alleged paper leak on May 12, CBI has so far arrested 11 accused persons from Delhi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Nashik, Pune, Latur and Ahilyanagar.
