NEET-UG 2026 Paper Leak: Rouse Avenue Court Grants CBI 14-Day Custody of Key Accused Manisha Mandhare

New Delhi: In a major development in the ongoing NEET-UG 2026 paper leak investigation, Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court on Saturday granted 14 days of CBI custody for the key accused, Manisha Gurunath Mandhare. 

A senior Botany teacher from Pune, Maharashtra, Mandhare, was apprehended by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) following a strategic operation that led to her arrest at a hotel in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.

NTA Expert Under the Scanner

The CBI produced Mandhare before the special CBI judge after intensive interrogation in the national capital. 

According to central investigators, the accused was appointed as an expert by the National Testing Agency (NTA), granting her direct and sensitive access to the confidential Botany and Zoology question papers.

The agency informed the court that the entire NTA's operational process is currently under scrutiny. 

Preliminary probe details reveal that Mandhare allegedly received substantial financial kickbacks from students in exchange for leaking the exam content.

The Modus Operandi

The prosecution alleged that during April 2026, Mandhare mobilised prospective medical aspirants with the help of a co-accused, Manisha Waghmare, who was arrested earlier this month. 

Mandhare reportedly conducted secret coaching sessions at her Pune residence, where she allegedly dictated actual exam questions, instructing students to note them down in personal notebooks and mark corresponding topics in their textbooks. 

A majority of these questions allegedly matched the actual NEET-UG 2026 paper held on May 3.

Defence Opposes Remand

Strongly opposing the remand application, the defence counsel argued that the CBI's demands were unwarranted. 

The defence highlighted that Mandhare had already joined the investigation twice voluntarily and had spent three days in police custody. 

Furthermore, counsel emphasised that agency raids at her residence yielded no incriminating material, arguing against the extended remand.

Despite the objections, the Rouse Avenue Court granted 14-day custody to facilitate an uninterrupted multi-state investigation. 

The CBI has expanded its crackdown across multiple states, conducting raids at six locations and recovering laptops, mobile phones, and bank statements. 

Mandhare's custodial interrogation is expected to provide deeper insights into the network of middlemen, administrative insiders, and financial trails that facilitated one of the largest competitive exam breaches in recent history.