CBI sleuths zero in on potential ‘insider role’
New Delhi/Mumbai: The CBI has significantly expanded its NEET-UG-2026 paper leak probe, with investigators now focusing on a possible “inside role” even as one more suspect from Pune and a retired chemistry professor from Latur have been nabbed.As the total number of arrests rose to seven, sources said investigators are trying to ascertain whether the breach was caused by a leak in the high-security, core chain of custody and access before the May 3 medical entrance exam.CBI sleuths are seeking information from NTA, which conducts NEET, about every stakeholder who had access to the question paper before it was sealed. It includes details about the entire process of question preparation besides the information about the person on the question preparation panel and the subject experts, professors and teachers. Separately, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan held a high-level meeting at his Delhi residence late Thursday with top officials for the new NEET exam whose dates will be announced later.In Pune, the CBI on Thursday identified the arrested suspect as Manisha Waghmare, a beauty parlor owner, who was picked up from the city’s Sukhsagar Nagar area.Waghmare acted as an intermediary for the accused Dhananjay, a BAMS (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery) passout who ran a consultancy in Pune and was among the six arrested on Wednesday — three from Jaipur and one from Gurgaon and Nashik and Ahilya Nagar in Maharashtra. Waghmar allegedly received money from about two dozen bank accounts before the trial.The CBI said it conducted searches at 14 locations on Thursday, produced the arrested before the court and sent them to seven-day remand for questioning. “Several other suspects are being interrogated. More arrests will be made in the coming days. CBI is following all leads,” said an officer.In Latur, a retired chemistry teacher from Dayanand Sagar College has been detained for questioning by the CBI, officials said. Sources said the person had access to the entire NEET question paper as part of a translation panel responsible for rendering the paper in Marathi. NEET is conducted in 13 languages, requiring multiple parallel translation workflows under strict confidentiality protocols.Officials declined to reveal the professor’s identity or specify his specific role, citing the sensitivity of the investigation. Latur, long considered a coaching hub that attracts students from across Maharashtra, has emerged as a focus of investigation. A complaint filed by a parent in the SP’s office two days ago alleged that 42 questions in a mock test conducted by a private coaching institute in the city were similar to the NEET paper.In Rajasthan, investigators suspect that Dinesh Biwal, one of the three arrested from the state, is suspected of scanning hard copies of the leaked NEET papers and sharing them digitally. He got the paper from Yash Yadav of Gurgaon, another suspect arrested from Gurgaon, for his son and later distributed or sold it to other students he knew in Sikar district.In Delhi, where some of the suspects were remanded by a local court, the CBI alleged a “larger conspiracy” behind the nationwide leak. The agency told the court that custodial interrogation was necessary to arrest other criminals, recover digital devices and electronic evidence, trace financial trails and “identify possible officers of NTA” involved in the crime.(Inputs from Dishank Purohit in Jaipur and Kaushik Saha in Delhi)
