3 min readNew DelhiMay 27, 2026 04:42 AM IST
Days after arresting the founder of a coaching institute in Latur, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is planning to make his minor son — who also sat for NEET-UG on May 3 — a “star witness” in the paper leak case, The Indian Express has learnt.
“The student has reportedly admitted during questioning that his father procured the NEET question paper for him — Physics, Chemistry and Biology — about 10 days before the exam,” said a source.
“The CBI is also planning to make a Latur-based paediatrician, who allegedly purchased the leaked question paper for his son, a witness,” the source said.
“Following these admissions, the agency is currently seeking legal opinion to make them their star witnesses in the case and is corroborating the statements with documentary and digital evidence,” the source said.
In its remand application filed in a Delhi court, the CBI had said the leaked questions were found on the phone of the coaching institute founder. “He distributed copies of the leaked papers and answer sheets to multiple persons. There is a video where he is seen in his coaching centre saying that the questions which he gave to the students were there in the final question paper. His links with co-accused Prahlad Kulkarni are under investigation,” the agency had told the court.
Kulkarni is the retired Chemistry teacher who was “associated with NTA” and arrested from Pune. The CBI has arrested two other teachers, Manisha Mandhare and Manisha Sanjay Havaldar, in the case.
Read | 120 of 410 questions from NEET UG appeared in ‘guess paper’, probe begins in Rajasthan
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According to sources, Mandhare and Manisha Waghmare, a Pune beautician who has also been arrested in the case, were living in the same residential society. “Mandhare is a close associate of Havaldar, as they were both appointed by the NTA as experts. Waghmare was working as a scout, looking for suitable students, and she was also associated with Kulkarni,” said the source.
According to the CBI probe, Havaldar allegedly leaked the Physics questions, Kulkarni allegedly leaked the Chemistry questions, and Mandhare allegedly leaked the Botany and Zoology questions. “Mandhare was not only involved in setting the question paper but also in translating it; Kulkarni was also involved in translating the paper into Marathi,” said the source.
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