NEET row: 3 accused sent to 14-day judicial custody
A Delhi court on Monday sent three accused in the NEET paper leak case — a physics lecturer empanelled by the National Testing Agency (NTA) as translator, a Latur-based paediatrician and a physics tutor — to 14 days’ judicial custody.
Special Judge Ajay Gupta allowed the CBI’s plea seeking judicial custody of physics translator Manisha Sanjay Hawaldar, paediatrician Dr Manoj Shirure and physics teacher Tejas Harshadkumar Shah.
Hawaldar’s CBI custody was extended by two days on Saturday, while Shirure and Shah were sent to five days of custodial interrogation on May 27.
CBI alleged that Hawaldar, in conspiracy with other accused persons, without authorisation, kept and distributed the NEET-UG examination paper for money.
It alleged that Manoj Shirure played a “key role” in facilitating three students, including the son of Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, who runs the Renukai Chemistry Classes (RCC) in Maharashtra’s Latur, in getting Chemistry questions from NEET paper setter P V Kulkarni.
The agency had already arrested Montegaonkar and Kulkarni, the alleged kingpin, in the case.
Tejas Harshadkumar Shah, a Physics teacher at Dr Abhang Prabhu Medical Academy (APMA), a Pune-based coaching centre, was also arrested for his involvement in the case.
According to the federal agency, Shah allegedly received the leaked Physics questions for NEET UG 2026 from Hawaldar.
CBI has arrested 13 accused persons in the case. On May 12, the NTA cancelled the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET, held on May 3 for medical admissions amid allegations of paper leak. A re-examination has been scheduled for June 21.
