NEET Leak Kingpin Held, Re-Exam on June 21 to Be Computer-Based Test

New Delhi:In a major breakthrough, the CBI on Friday arrested Professor P.V. Kulkarni from Pune, who is alleged to be the kingpin in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case.

Kulkarni, a Chemistry domain expert, had been part of the panel that set the NEET question paper for several years, officials said.

Meanwhile, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday announced that the NEET-UG re-examination will be held on June 21, and said the medical entrance exam will be computer-based test from next year onwards as part of reforms in view of allegations of irregularities linked to it.

The agency said Kulkarni, who was involved in conducting the NEET-UG 2026 examination on behalf of the National Testing Agency, was the primary source of the leak. He was arrested in Pune after what the agency described as "thorough interrogation," officials said.

Kulkarni, originally from Latur in Maharashtra, allegedly held coaching classes at his Pune residence during the last week of April, weeks before the examination was held on May 3. During these classes, he orally dictated questions, answer options and correct responses to a group of students, the CBI said.

"During the last week of April, 2026, Kulkarni had mobilised students with the help of another accused, Manisha Waghmare, a beautician, and conducted special coaching classes for them at his residence in Pune," the central agency said. Waghmare was arrested by agency sleuths on Thursday.

Officials said Kulkarni dictated the questions along with options and correct answers during the special coaching classes. The students wrote them down in their notebooks, and the questions exactly tallied with the actual NEET-UG 2026 question paper held on May 3.

In the last 24 hours, the CBI also conducted searches at several locations across the country and seized incriminating documents, electronic gadgets and mobile phones. A detailed forensic and technical analysis of the seized material is under way, officials said.

Meanwhile, a Delhi court on Friday sent NEET paper leak case accused Dhananjay Nivrutti Lokhande to six days' CBI custody, saying the agency needed to unearth the entire conspiracy, identify and arrest others, recover evidence and prevent tampering.

Special CBI Judge Ajay Gupta was hearing the agency's plea seeking six days' custodial interrogation of Lokhande, who was arrested from Ahilyanagar in Maharashtra and produced before the court on transit remand.

"Allegedly, there is a larger conspiracy angle present in this case. The investigation is at its initial stage, and the custody of accused Dhananjay Nivrutti Lokhande has been sought to unearth the entire conspiracy, arrest other active members of this organised paper leak gang and recover all relevant incriminating material," Judge Gupta said.

On Thursday, the agency arrested Lokhande from Ahilyanagar and his associate Manisha Waghmare from Pune.

The CBI found that Lokhande had received the paper from Waghmare and passed it on to Nashik-based Shubham Khairnar, who in turn passed it on to Yash Yadav. Yadav allegedly circulated it further, officials said.

The central agency has arrested three persons from Jaipur - Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal and Dinesh Biwal - along with Yadav from Gurugram and Khairnar from Nashik.

Khairnar was in touch with Yadav and informed him in April that Mangilal Biwal was ready to pay ?10 lakh to ?12 lakh to arrange leaked NEET-UG 2026 questions for his younger son.

Khairnar allegedly shared 500 to 600 questions with Yadav to help secure enough marks for admission to a reputed medical college.

Mangilal Biwal allegedly procured the paper from Yadav, who was known to his elder son Vikas Biwal from NEET coaching in Rajasthan's Sikar. The deal between Mangilal Biwal and Yadav was struck for ?10 lakh, officials said.

Mangilal Biwal allegedly shared the paper with his son and further distributed it among relatives. Yadav also reportedly told Vikas Biwal to find more NEET aspirants to sell the questions to and recover part of the money.

An analysis of digital devices has provided the agency with incriminating chats, leaked question papers and other digital evidence. The CBI will subject the devices to forensic examination to retrieve deleted data, officials said.

The central agency registered the case on May 12 based on a written complaint from the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education regarding the alleged paper leak in the NEET-UG 2026 examination. Immediately after registering the case, special teams were formed, searches were conducted at various locations across the country, and several suspects were picked up and interrogated.

Till Thursday, seven accused had been arrested from Jaipur, Gurugram, Nashik, Pune and Ahilyanagar. Of them, five have already been produced before court and taken into seven days' police custody for detailed interrogation. The other two accused, who were arrested on Thursday, are being produced before a court in Pune for transit remand and will be shifted to a Delhi court.

The CBI said the investigation so far had revealed the actual source of the Chemistry paper leak, as well as the middlemen involved in mobilising students who paid several lakhs of rupees to attend special coaching classes where the question banks were dictated or discussed.

The agency also said it had carried out raids at 14 locations across the country and seized electronic devices and incriminating material.

According to the NTA, information regarding the alleged malpractice was received on the evening of May 7, four days after the examination was held. The NTA said the inputs were escalated to central agencies the following morning for independent verification and necessary action.

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test was conducted across 551 Indian cities and at 14 overseas centres. Nearly 23 lakh candidates had registered for the test, which was administered by the NTA across the country.