NEET paper leak: Woman among two held in Maharashtra

Both the accused were handed over to the CBI for further probe into the case.

Pune/Mumbai: Police detained two persons, including a female beautician, from parts of Maharashtra on Wednesday, May 13, for their alleged connection to the NEET paper leak case, officials said.

Following their detention and questioning, both the accused – the woman held in Pune and a man in Ahilyanagar – were handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for further probe into the case.

The action against them comes a day after one Shubham Khairnar (30) was detained in Nashik district for his alleged role in the paper leak.

Police said they detained the woman, identified as Manisha Waghmare, a beautician by profession, in Pune.

Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said she was detained from Bibvewadi area of the city.

“We questioned her and handed her over to the CBI for further probe,” he told PTI.

Kumar, however, refused to elaborate on the woman’s exact role in the alleged paper leak which led the National Testing Agency (NTA) to cancel the examination for admissions to undergraduate medical courses, held on May 3.

The police detained 26-year-old Dhananjay Nivrutti Lokhande (26), a resident of Rahuri in Ahilyanagar district, in connection with the paper leak case.

He was handed over to the CBI for further investigation. His exact role is yet to be ascertained.

On Tuesday late night, the central agency had taken accused Khairnar, resident of Nandgaon in Nashik district, into custody.

He was produced before a magistrate’s court in Mumbai, where the CBI sought his transit remand so that he could be taken to Delhi for further investigation. The court agreed to its demand.

The NEET (UG) 2026 exam for admission to undergraduate courses in medical colleges was cancelled on Tuesday amid allegations of paper leak. The government asked the CBI to carry out a comprehensive inquiry into the “irregularities”.

The cancellation of the exam left over 22 lakh medical courses aspirants and their families anxious about the fresh examination date, admit cards, examination centres and the counselling timeline.