NEET-UG 2026 Paper Leak: CBI Chargesheet Reveals Two Routes from Maharashtra

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a chargesheet in a Delhi fast-track court in connection with the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case, naming 13 accused. The probe has uncovered two distinct messaging app trails through which the question papers allegedly travelled: one from Maharashtra to Rajasthan to Haryana, and another from Maharashtra to Rajasthan to Kerala.

Investigators describe the operation as a 'countrywide conspiracy' involving subject experts, coaching institute operators, and intermediaries, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

The chargesheet names NTA biology expert Manisha Mandhare, NTA chemistry expert Pralhad Vithalrao Kulkarni, and NTA physics expert Manisha Sanjay Havaldar. Also named are Shivraj Raghunath Motegoankar, owner of Renukai Career Centre Coaching Institute in Latur; Tejas Harshadkumar Shah, COO of APMA Coaching Institute in Pune; and eight alleged intermediaries: Manisha Sanjay Waghmare, Dhananjay Nivrutti Lokhande, Shubham Madhukar Khairnar, Yash Yadav, Mangilal Biwal, Vikash Biwal, Dinesh Biwal, and Dr Manoj Bhagwanrao Shirure.

Investigators have focused on Motegoankar, whose coaching institute has branches in Pune, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nanded, Solapur, Kolhapur, Akola, and other parts of Maharashtra. Sources said the CBI alleges Motegoankar was an active member of the organised network that procured and circulated the NEET (UG) 2026 question papers. He allegedly arranged to procure chemistry questions by paying Rs 5 lakh, routed through co-accused Dr Manoj Bhagwanrao Shirure, reportedly for the benefit of his son and students enrolled at RCC.

A phone found during a search at Motegoankar's house allegedly led to the recovery of leaked questions, along with notes of chemistry questions in his handwriting. At least 36 images, including five duplicates, containing 132 handwritten chemistry questions were recovered from his mobile phone. The metadata allegedly showed that the images were captured on a Samsung Fold7 on April 23 this year, around 10 days before the examination. Prima facie, investigators found that approximately 111 of these questions matched questions from the NTA master sets for NEET (UG) 2026, sources said.

The CBI chargesheet also details the alleged role of Dr Shirure, a medical practitioner running a private hospital in Latur. Investigators have said Shirure facilitated the procurement and onward dissemination of leaked chemistry questions at the instance of Kulkarni. Shirure's hospital premises were allegedly used as the venue where Motegoankar's son accessed the chemistry question paper in the third week of April, before the NEET examination. Shirure also referred two other doctors whose children procured the question paper from Kulkarni, each allegedly paying Rs 3 lakh, sources said.

Kulkarni was said to have disclosed that he first came in contact with co-accused Dhananjay Lokhande in 2021 and conspired with Manisha Waghmare in procuring and circulating the leaked papers. The paper reached the beneficiaries through Kulkarni's network. A payment of Rs 5 lakh made for the leaked paper was traced to Motegoankar's wife and was allegedly recovered from the residence of a Shirure family member, sources said.

The CBI has found that the first formal indication of the alleged NEET paper leak came not from an investigating agency, but from a May 7 email sent by a chemistry teacher, Shashikant Suthar, in Rajasthan's Sikar, to the NTA. Suthar detailed how solved questions were allegedly circulating hours before the examination. He wrote that on the evening of May 3, shortly after the NEET examination ended at 6 pm, his landlord approached him with two PDF files containing question papers and asked him to compare them with the actual NEET paper. Suthar found that the questions in the PDFs matched the actual paper. He then got the match independently verified by colleagues before alerting the NTA.