CBI has made a major breakthrough in the NEET-UG 2026 question paper leak case. After two weeks of investigation, the names of the masterminds of the question paper leak have come out. PV Kulkarni, a chemistry teacher working for NTA, was arrested and had direct access to the question paper.
The mystery of how the future of lakhs of students has been revealed in the question paper leak case that has created a stir across the country for the past few days is gradually unraveling.
According to the CBI, Kulkarni recruited students from both Latur and Pune in late April, just before the NEET-UG exam. His accomplice was accused Manisha Waghmar who was arrested in May
Kulkarni started special coaching classes at his home in Pune. There he made students write questions, alternative answers and even correct answers. It was later found that the questions written in the notebook were identical to the original question paper of the NEET-UG 2026 exam held in May.
CBI sources claim that lakhs of rupees have been extorted from students in return for publishing questions. A secret network was created using many intermediaries, with question banks arranged like books. Kulkarni was arrested from Pune after a long interrogation. Although a resident of Latur, he was teaching in Pune for the past few years.
Not only Kulkarni, the CBI has recovered a huge amount of documents, mobile phones and electronic gadgets from various places across the country in the last 24 hours. These are undergoing forensic examination. Technical analysis has also been done to trace the pattern of movement, communication and money laundering of question paper leak rings.
The CBI had registered the case on May 12 based on a written complaint by the Union Education Ministry regarding the leak of NEET question papers. A special team has since been formed to search, interrogate and make arrests.
A total of eight people have already been arrested from Jaipur, Gurgaon, Nashik, Pune and Ahmednagar. Five of them have been remanded in police custody for seven days. The other two accused have been remanded in transit to appear before a Delhi court.
The CBI said that the investigation has now reached a deep stage. The main source of the question paper leak was found through Kulkarni – especially the chemistry question paper. Other brokers and middlemen in the ring are also under investigation. They allegedly prepare questions for students before exams in the name of ‘premium coaching’.
The investigating agency claimed that the arrested have exposed the main network of the question paper leak cycle. A bigger racket may come out in the coming days.
