CBI Chargesheet Reveals Chronology of 13 Arrests in NEET-UG Paper Leak Case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has detailed the sequence of 13 arrests made during its investigation into the alleged NEET-UG question paper leak, revealing how the case was built around leaked PDFs, mobile phones and deleted WhatsApp chats.

The CBI began its crackdown on May 13, arresting Mangilal, Dinesh and Vikas Biwal in Rajasthan. Their mobile phones allegedly contained leaked question-paper PDFs received through Telegram on April 29. On the same day, Yash Yadav was arrested in Gurugram and Shubham Khairnar in Nashik.

Khairnar allegedly operated under the WhatsApp alias “Ap Broker” and was suspected of coordinating the distribution of leaked chemistry questions. Also on May 13, the agency arrested Dhananjay Lokhande in Pune, who allegedly tried to destroy his mobile phone to remove evidence. Manisha Sanjay Waghmare was arrested in Pune the following day.

Information gathered during the interrogation of the arrested suspects led investigators to the alleged mastermind, P V Kulkarni, who was arrested from Latur on May 15. Manisha Mandhare was arrested in Pune on May 16, followed by Shivraj Motegaonkar, founder of a coaching centre in Latur, on May 17.

The final arrests came later in May. Manisha Sanjay Havaldar was arrested in Latur on May 22, while Tejas Shah and Dr Manoj Shirure were arrested from Pune and Latur respectively on May 26.

According to the chargesheet, the alleged conspiracy was uncovered through forensic imaging of mobile devices, which helped investigators recover deleted WhatsApp conversations and PDF documents containing the leaked questions.

The case concerns the NEET-UG examination conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admission to undergraduate medical courses. Following allegations of a paper leak, the NTA cancelled the May 3 examination on May 12 and conducted a re-examination on June 21.

The controversy triggered widespread protests and political criticism, eventually contributing to the resignation of then Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.