By Inder Vashisth
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Manisha Sanjay Havaldar for allegedly leaking the Physics paper of the NEET examination. She is the Principal of Seth Hiralal Saraf Prashala in Pune.
She was appointed as an expert by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for the NEET examination process, granting her complete access to the Physics paper. During April 2026, she shared several Physics-related questions with co-accused Manisha Mandhare. The questions she shared match the actual Physics questions from the NEET examination paper. Manisha Sanjay Havaldar joined the school as a Physics teacher in 1992. She has been serving as the Principal since 2023 and was scheduled to retire on June 30, 2026.
So far, 11 accused individuals have been arrested in connection with this case.
Timeline of Key Arrests:
- May 18: The CBI arrested Professor Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, alias M Sir, the owner of Latur (Maharashtra)-based RCC Coaching Institute.
- May 16: The mastermind behind the Biology paper leak, Manisha Gurunath Mandhare—a senior Botany teacher from Pune, Maharashtra—was arrested in Delhi.
- May 15: The main accused and kingpin of the racket, P.V. Kulkarni, a Chemistry lecturer from Pune, was arrested. He was involved in the examination process on behalf of the NTA and had direct access to the question papers.
- May 14: Dhananjay Lokhanda from Ahilya Nagar and Manisha Waghmare from Pune were arrested.
- May 13: Mangilal Biwal, Vikas, and Dinesh Biwal from Jamwa Ramgarh (Jaipur); Yash Yadav from Gurugram; and Shubham Khernar from Nashik were arrested.