PUNE/NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested a Pune school headmistress, Manisha Sanjay Havaldar, for allegedly leaking the NEET-UG 2026 physics question paper. With this, the total number of accused in the case has risen to 11.Havaldar, who serves as the headmistress of Sheth Hiralal Saraf Prashala in Budhwar Peth, had been appointed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) as an expert involved in the examination process. According to CBI, her role granted her access to physics question papers.Earlier, PV Kulkarni, a chemistry lecturer associated with NTA as part of the panel that set the question paper for NEET-UG; Manisha Mandhare, another NTA exam expert; Manisha Waghmare, a beauty parlour owner; and Dhananjay, who ran a consultancy firm, were arrested from Pune, among others from different parts of the state, including Latur and Nashik, and the country.CBI said Havaldar shared portions of the physics paper with co-accused Manisha Mandhare, who was arrested on May 16. The central agency said the leaked questions matched those that later appeared in the NEET-UG 2026 exam, establishing her as a crucial source in the breach.Sheth Hiralal Saraf Prashala secretary Satish Gavali said Havaldar had been associated with the institution since 1992 and previously taught physics at the junior college level and handled classes from Stds V-X till being promoted to be school headmistress in 2024. “Since 2024, she had been teaching only secondary classes. She holds an MSc and BEd degree. We had no knowledge of her involvement in NEET paper setting, as such work is confidential. The news has come as a shock to us,” Gavali said.He said Havaldar was due to retire in June 2026 but has now been suspended pending inquiry. “She was known as a disciplinarian and was well regarded by students and parents,” Gavali said, adding that the institution had no information about whether Havaldar conducted private coaching. “We are unaware if she worked as a question setter for any other competitive exams, though she had previously served as a moderator and evaluated answer sheets for state board examinations,” he said.In a related development, CBI questioned a third doctor from Latur as the district continues to emerge as a key hub in the widening scandal. Coaching class operators from Nanded, Parbhani and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar have also come under the agency’s scanner.According to sources, the three doctors under scrutiny are suspected of having procured the leaked NEET question paper for their relatives. “It is quite evident that some doctors, keen on seeing their children continue the family’s medical legacy, may go to extreme lengths. Apart from these three, some more from the region, including Nanded, are being examined for possible links to the racket,” a senior officer said.The sources suspected that certain parents might have played an active role in facilitating access to the leaked papers through a network of intermediaries. CBI is probing whether the question papers were selectively circulated among aspirants in exchange for large sums of money before the exam, or distributed under the guise of mock tests.The latest development follows the agency’s recent expansion of its probe into alleged links connecting Latur’s coaching ecosystem, medical professionals and suspected middlemen. Officials are examining financial transactions, cellphone records and money trails believed to be associated with the illegal procurement and distribution of the paper.Investigators are also looking into whether the accused doctors had direct or indirect connections with coaching operators and individuals linked to the suspected leak network.CBI is expected to question more doctors, coaching-linked individuals and parents as the investigation expands. While officials have not issued a detailed statement, sources indicated that more summonses, and possibly arrests, were likely in the coming days.CBI officials said the ongoing probe has exposed the core source of the security breach. Beyond the insider leak, special teams have also identified and arrested a network of middlemen. These fixers were allegedly responsible for tracking down and mobilizing medical aspirants, charging them lakhs of rupees to attend clandestine, specialized coaching sessions where the leaked examination questions were distributed and solved ahead of the test.(With inputs from Mohammed Akhef in Sambhajinagar)
