A Delhi court has sent biology lecturer Manisha Mandhare to 14-day CBI custody in connection with the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case.During the hearing, Mendre’s lawyer opposed the detention plea and argued that his arrest was illegal. The lawyer told the court that he was arrested after sunset and brought to Delhi around 1 am. However, the court allowed the lawyer to meet Mandhare for 15 minutes a day during his detention period.The Central Bureau of Investigation told Rouse Avenue Court that Mandhare was part of a larger conspiracy related to the alleged leak of medical entrance exam papers.According to the agency, Mendhare was the expert responsible for translating the botany and zoology question papers and had access to secret exam materials. The CBI alleged that he worked with accused PV Kulkarni and Manisha Waghmare and shared the question paper with another accused Shubham Khernar.Mendre was arrested on Saturday after questioning at the agency’s headquarters. She was part of the National Testing Agency’s paper setting process for NEET-UG 2026, officials said. The agency claimed that it had full access to the botany and zoology papers during the examination process.The CBI further alleged that Mandhare mobilized NEET aspirants through accused Manisha Waghmare in April 2026 and conducted special coaching classes at his residence in Pune. Investigators claimed that during these sessions, he ordered the leakage of question and answers from selected students and received lakhs of rupees as fees.According to the agency, many of the questions discussed during these classes were later combined with the actual NEET-UG question paper held on May 3. Officials said the sample matched the alleged character of Latur’s chemist Kulkarni, who was arrested earlier in the investigation.The NEET-UG 2026 exam was canceled following allegations of paper leakage. The exam was conducted in 551 cities across India and 14 overseas centres, with around 2.3 lakh candidates registered. According to the NTA, information about the alleged malpractice was received on May 7, four days after the exam.
