Pune: The CBI on Saturday arrested a junior college teacher from Pune, Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, in Delhi and claimed that she was a key accused in the NEET-UG 2026 biology question paper leak.Mandhare was associated with the National Testing Agency (NTA) — responsible for conducting the NEET-UG — as a subject expert for the examination process, the CBI said. A biology teacher at Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce (junior college) in Pune, she is currently on leave.A CBI team on Saturday carried out searches in Mandhare’s residence in Ganga Osian Park society at Sukhsagarnagar near Katraj. Beauty parlour owner Manisha Waghmare, arrested earlier in the case, lives in the same society.The CBI said Mandhare was questioned in Delhi and subsequently arrested. According to the central investigation agency, she had access to confidential botany and zoology papers because of her role as an expert associated with the NTA.Mandhare’s arrest came a day after the CBI nabbed P V Kulkarni, a retired professor and former head of the chemistry department at a private college in Latur. The CBI said Kulkarni was associated with the NEET-UG system for several years and was part of panels involved in setting the chemistry paper. Mandhare is the ninth suspect arrested in the case.Nivedita Ekbote, the principal of Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, said, “Mandhare is a permanent teacher. She holds a government-aided post and is slated to retire in seven months. She taught biology to students of Standard XI and XII.”The college principal said, “Mandhare has been associated with the NTA for the past six-seven years. The NTA directly interacted with her because of the confidentiality clause, as per the guidelines of the court and government authorities. We never came to know when she went to the NTA and when she returned. As she is a senior teacher, she must have been involved in paper-setting exercises at different places, including the state board.”Ekbote said, “Mandhare has been employed with our college since Sept 11, 2002. We never had any issues with her and she never had any issues with her colleagues. We are in a state of shock after her arrest. We will initiate the process of her suspension pending the CBI inquiry as per the MEPS (Maharashtra Employees of Private Schools) Act, in consultation with the college management and our legal team.”When TOI went to Mandhare’s sixth-floor flat in the A-wing of Ganga Osian Park on Saturday afternoon, the CBI personnel were conducting searches. They did not allow reporters to enter her flat.A society member said, “We do not know if Mandhare stayed alone in her flat or with family. We came to know about her arrest after the CBI officials visited the society for the second time within a week.”Beautician Manisha Waghmare, arrested earlier in the NEET-UG paper leak case, is also a resident of Ganga Osian Park. The CBI earlier conducted searches in her flat. “Both women knew each other,” the society member said.Waghmare stays in a fourth-floor flat in the B-wing of the society. TOI found it locked.Her husband is a dentist. His clinic in Sukhsagarnagar was closed on Saturday afternoon.
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