According to the CBI, P V Kulkarni was involved in the examination process on behalf of the National Testing Agency. (Specially arranged)P V Kulkarni, the retired lecturer who was arrested in Pune on Friday, had entered into a conspiracy to distribute the leaked question papers of NEET 2026, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told a Delhi court on Saturday (May 16).According to the CBI, Kulkarni was involved in the examination process on behalf of the National Testing Agency (NTA), which administers the entrance test for admission to undergraduate medical colleges across the country, and had access to the question papers.“PV Kulkarni provided questions to certain persons through [co-accused] Manisha Waghmare. They were in conspiracy with each other to collect and distribute the leaked question papers,” public prosecutor Neetu Singh, representing CBI, told the court.Waghmare too was arrested in Pune on Friday. A CBI spokesperson had said Kulkarni had organised special coaching classes with the help of Waghmare, during which he had dictated the leaked questions to the students along with the options and the correct answers.CBI has asked for 14 days’ custody of the two accused. The court is likely to pass its order soon.“Since it’s a larger conspiracy, we might have to take them outside [Delhi] as well,” counsel for CBI Singh said. “The investigation is at a crucial stage. We need custody to collect evidence,” counsel said.Must Read | NEET-UG paper leak: CBI arrests another professor from PuneOn Friday, CBI had earlier told Special Judge Ajay Gupta of Rouse Avenue Court that the May 3 NEET paper had been leaked through an “NTA source”. Eight individuals including Kulkarni have been arrested so far in the sweeping multicity crackdown in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Haryana to trace the source of the leak.Story continues below this adMore than 22.7 lakh aspirants appeared for the paper that was cancelled on May 12. A retest will be held on June 21, the NTA has announced.“Accused Dhananjay (Lokhande) who is known to Shubham (Khairnar, the first person to be arrested) collected the papers from Manisha Waghmare who is a resident of Pune. Dhananjay transferred it to Shubham. Then Yash Yadav (who was arrested in Gurgaon) received the pdf of leaked question paper through Shubham,” public prosecutor Singh told the court.CBI has described Kulkarni, who taught chemistry in Dayanand Junior College in Latur, Maharashtra before his retirement a few years ago, as the “source of the NEET-UG 2026 examination paper leaks”.“The probe has revealed that Kulkarni was involved in the process of examination on behalf of NTA. He had access to the question papers, and he organised special coaching sessions at his Pune residence during the last week of April 2026, in which students were allegedly mobilised and taught the leaked material,” a CBI spokesperson had said on Friday.Story continues below this adAlso Read | NEET aspirants are searched like suspects. The system isn’tAccording to the CBI, the questions that he dictated to students at his special coaching classes along with Waghmare tallied with the actual question paper of NEET-UG 2026 that was held on May 3.Counsel for defence Akash Chauhan argued before the court on Saturday that the arrests had been made based only on disclosure statements, and that there was no evidence against his clients. The arrests were illegal, he argued.CBI had registered a case on May 12 following a written complaint from the Department of Higher Education at the Union Ministry of Education. The CBI had then formed special teams and launched coordinated searches, and made arrests at multiple locations.As per the CBI, a “guess paper” of 150 pages with 410 questions was circulated. Of those 410 questions about 120 questions appeared in the chemistry paper of the exam. This paper was with students weeks before the examination, the agency said.Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023. Professional Background Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University. Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories. Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts. Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials. Recent notable articles In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories. 1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey. 2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation. 3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police. Signature Style Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public. X (Twitter): @Nirbhaya99 ... Read More © The Indian Express Pvt Ltd