CBI chargesheet accuses NTA experts of NEET-UG 2026 leak

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a chargesheet alleging a widespread, premeditated conspiracy by National Testing Agency (NTA) insiders and private operators to leak the NEET-UG 2026 medical entrance exam paper for financial gain. The agency named 13 accused, including three NTA-appointed subject experts, in the document submitted to a special court in Delhi on July 28, 2026.

According to the chargesheet, the alleged conspiracy began months before the examination, with coaching operators cultivating relationships with the subject experts. The three experts-Prahlad Vithalrao Kulkarni (chemistry), Manisha Gurunath Mandhare (botany and zoology), and Manisha Sanjay Havaldar (physics)-are accused of misusing their official roles in the confidential paper-setting process to leak questions. The CBI alleges they exploited security lapses at the NTA's headquarters in Delhi, where they were not routinely frisked and CCTV monitoring was inadequate, to smuggle out question details.

The agency detailed specific methods each expert allegedly used. Kulkarni is accused of writing brief details of all 135 chemistry questions on small paper chits during translation work between...