The two National Testing Agency (NTA) subject experts arrested in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case were involved in setting questions and translating the question paper into Marathi, giving them access to the final chemistry and biology sections of the examination.
Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, a biology expert at Pune’s Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, translated 90 biology questions, while PV Kulkarni, a retired chemistry lecturer from Dayanand Junior College, translated 45 chemistry questions.
The translation process involves two independent layers, with the paper passing through multiple sets of hands before it is finalised.
NTA conducts NEET-UG in 13 languages, and the translation chain has emerged as a structural vulnerability in the paper-setting architecture.
Six of the 10 persons arrested by the CBI so far are from Maharashtra, and the entire committee that set the paper and other senior officers of NTA are under the scanner.
