NEET UG 2026: CBI files supplementary chargesheet in paper leak case

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a supplementary chargesheet in the NEET paper leak case before a Delhi court on Wednesday. Special Judge Ajay Gupta directed that a copy be supplied to the counsel of the 14th accused, Sheshrav Bajrang Suryawanshi alias Raj Suryawanshi, and posted the matter for further proceedings on Thursday.

The agency has alleged that Suryawanshi, a resident of Nanded in Maharashtra who was arrested on September 2, is a close associate of co-accused Shubham Khairnar. It said that along with the co-accused, Suryawanshi played a key role in the paper leak .

On August 12, the present designated fast-track court dealing with "criminal cases arising from paper leaks, as well as the use of other unfair means in public examinations", took cognisance of the CBI's chargesheet against 13 other accused.

According to the earlier chargesheet, the agency began its crackdown on May 13, with the first set of arrests of Mangilal, Dinesh and Vikas Biwal in Rajasthan. Their mobile phones contained leaked PDFs received via Telegram on April 29. On the same day, the agency arrested Yash Yadav in Gurugram and Shubham Khairnar in Nashik.

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NEET UG paper leak

Another key arrest made on May 13 was that of Dhananjay Lokhande in Pune, who allegedly attempted to destroy his phone to clear evidence before being apprehended. Manisha Sanjay Waghmare was arrested in Pune the next day. According to the final report filed earlier, Waghmare was "one of the prime conspirators in the leakage and dissemination of NEET-UG 2026 questions for monetary consideration" and "acted as the link between candidates and the subject experts".

After interrogating them, the agency arrested the alleged mastermind, P V Kulkarni, on May 15 from Latur, followed by Manisha Mandhare from Pune on May 16. Shivraj Motegaonkar, the founder of a coaching centre in Latur, was picked up on May 17. The last arrests in this case were of Manisha Sanjay Havaldar from Latur on May 22, Tejas Shah from Pune and Dr Manoj Shirure from Latur on May 26.

The CBI has claimed that the conspiracy was unearthed through forensic imaging of mobile devices, which recovered deleted WhatsApp chats and PDF documents containing the leaked questions. The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET-UG , is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to medical colleges. On May 12, the NTA cancelled the exam held on May 3 amid paper leak allegations. A re-examination was conducted on June 21.