Pune, 27th May 2026: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Pune-based professor Tejas Harshadkumar Shah and Latur doctor Manoj Shirure in connection with the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case. With these latest arrests, the total number of accused held in the case has risen to 13.
According to the CBI, Dr. Manoj Shirure played a key role in the alleged racket by helping distribute Chemistry questions to three students. Investigators claim the questions were obtained from the main accused, P. V. Kulkarni.
One of the students reportedly had links to an accused coaching center operator. Shirure was detained in Latur and questioned for several days at the CBI office in Pune before being formally arrested.
The second accused, Tejas Shah, is a Physics teacher at Dr. Abhang Prabhu Medical Academy (APMA), a coaching institute in Pune. The CBI alleges that Shah received NEET Physics questions from arrested accused Manisha Hawaldar.
Hawaldar, a teacher from Pune’s Sadashiv Peth area, was working at Seth Hiralal Saraf Prashala and had been appointed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) as a subject expert for the NEET examination. Due to this role, she allegedly had direct access to Physics question papers.
Investigators found that a phone number saved as “God” in Hawaldar’s mobile phone allegedly belonged to Tejas Shah. The CBI claims Hawaldar shared Physics questions with co-accused Manisha Mandhare in April 2026, after which the questions were circulated among selected students.
The agency further alleged that some questions were recreated from memory and rewritten before being distributed. According to the investigation, Hawaldar used both her own and her husband’s mobile phones for communication related to the leak.
She is also accused of preparing handwritten copies of questions and sharing them in digital and printed formats.
The CBI has claimed that attempts were made to destroy evidence, including burning handwritten papers linked to the leaked questions. During searches at Hawaldar’s residence in Sadashiv Peth, officials reportedly seized NEET-related documents, NTA papers, laptops, mobile phones, and other electronic material. She remains in CBI custody.
The investigation agency said it is continuing a large-scale probe to uncover the full network behind the paper leak. So far, raids have been conducted at 49 locations across the country, and several electronic devices and documents have been seized for forensic and technical analysis.
