New Delhi, June 15 (IANS) A Delhi court on Monday extended till June 29 the judicial custody of 10 accused in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The accused were produced before the Rouse Avenue Court through video conferencing from Tihar Jail upon the expiry of their previously granted judicial custody. The court extended the judicial custody of Yash Yadav, Mangilal Biwal, Dinesh Biwal, Vikas Biwal, Dhananjay Lokhande, Tejas Harshad Shah, Shubham Khairnar, Manisha Waghmare, Manisha Sanjay Havaldar and Dr Manoj Shirure till June 29.

The Rouse Avenue Court also permitted the CBI to interrogate accused Shubham Khairnar, Manisha Waghmare and Dhananjay Lokhande inside jail on June 17, 18 and 19, respectively. The probe agency has been allowed to question each of the accused for one hour as part of its ongoing investigation into the alleged examination paper leak. The CBI has so far arrested 13 accused in the case and is investigating an alleged network involved in procuring and circulating NEET-UG question papers ahead of the examination. 

Earlier, on June 1, the Rouse Avenue Court had remanded accused Dr Manoj Shirure, Tejas Harshadkumar Shah and Manisha Sanjay Havaldar to judicial custody till June 15. The Central agency has alleged that Shirure, a Latur-based doctor, played a key role in facilitating three students, including the son of an accused coaching centre owner, in obtaining Chemistry questions from alleged kingpin P.V. Kulkarni before the examination.

Shah, a Physics faculty member at Pune-based Abhang Prabhu Medical Academy (APMA), is alleged to have received leaked Physics questions from co-accused Manisha Havaldar. The case pertains to the alleged leak of the NEET-UG 2026 examination paper, following which the CBI registered an FIR on May 12 on the basis of a complaint lodged by the Department of Higher Education under the Union Ministry of Education. According to the probe agency, Pune-based education consultant Manisha Waghmare was among the intermediaries involved in mobilising students who allegedly paid lakhs of rupees to attend special coaching sessions where questions that later appeared in the NEET-UG 2026 examination were dictated and discussed.

The CBI has claimed that Waghmare facilitated prospective candidates for special coaching classes conducted by NTA-appointed senior Botany teacher Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, who is suspected to be the co-mastermind behind the Biology paper leak. Chemistry professor P.V. Kulkarni has been identified by the probe agency as the alleged kingpin of the paper leak network. Meanwhile, the Centre has stepped up preparations for the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21 after the original examination held in May was cancelled following allegations that some questions had been leaked.

Amid preparations for the re-test, Cabinet Secretary T.V. Somanathan recently reviewed the arrangements with National Testing Agency officials and warned that the "full might and weight of the law" would fall on anyone attempting to distort, disrupt or tamper with the integrity of the examination process. The Centre has put in place enhanced security measures, including transportation of question papers by the Indian Air Force and deployment of CRPF and CISF personnel to assist local authorities in ensuring secure conduct of the re-examination.

The NTA has also announced an additional 15 minutes for candidates and increased space for rough work in answer booklets. The Centre has maintained that coordinated efforts by the Union government, state governments and district administrations are aimed at safeguarding the integrity and credibility of the re-examination process.

--IANS