NEET UG 2026 Exam Paper Leak Case: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday (May 16, 2026) arrested Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, a senior Botany teacher from Pune, Maharashtra, in Delhi after a long interrogation in the Biology paper leak case of NEET UG 2026 exam. CBI has so far arrested a total of 9 accused in this case. At the same time, after the arrest of Biology lecturer Manisha Mandhare, Principal Professor of Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Pune, Dr. Nivedita Gajanan Ekbote said that Mandhare was going to retire in the next seven months.

He said that I got information through media that senior teacher Manisha Mandhare has been arrested by CBI. I was not given any information about this from CBI, Education Ministry or any other official sources. He said that Manisha has been working here for the last 24 years and she was working with the National Testing Agency (NTA) under the condition of confidentiality, so we do not have any information from her about the NEET exam or exam paper setting. This was a matter between him and NTA, we did not know anything about it.

#WATCH | Pune, Maharashtra: On the arrest of the accused in the NEET(UG) exam paper leak case, Prof. Dr Nivedita Gajanan Ekbote, Principal, Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, says, “I got to know about this from the media, only that the senior teacher Manisha Waghmare… pic.twitter.com/Ay1Cftbkoz

— ANI (@ANI) May 16, 2026

Manisha since 5-6 years NTA Dr. Nivedita was in the panel of

While talking to news agency ANI, Principal of Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Prof. Dr. Nivedita Gajanan Ekbote said, ‘As far as I know, Manisha Mandhare was associated with the panel of NTA for the last 5-6 years. This is all I know about this. According to her service book, she was going to retire in the next seven months.

He said, ‘She was a good teacher here, but as a college, we have no knowledge about NTA, NEET exam and paper setting.’

What action will the college take against Manisha??

When the Principal of Modern College was asked whether any action would be taken against Manisha by the college, she said that whenever we get official information from the concerned authority, we will take legal action under the School Education Act.

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