New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), currently investigating the NEET paper leak case, is now also scrutinising the assets of the three accused individuals arrested in connection with the matter.

The investigative agency suspects that the accused have acquired multiple properties using funds generated from the paper leak racket, officials said.

The CBI further suspects that these very accused individuals, currently in custody, were also involved in the alleged NEET paper leak case that surfaced in 2024. The agency is now examining the links between the two cases and attempting to ascertain whether the same syndicate has been operating this racket for a prolonged period.

Several professors from Pune may now also come under the ambit of the investigation.

According to official sources, certain educators may be interrogated, and their roles in the matter are currently being examined.

The CBI is working to identify all individuals involved in the paper leak network.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the CBI once again conducted raids at premises linked to Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, a Botany Teacher from Pune and Manisha Havaldar, a Pune-based physics lecturer.

The investigative agency anticipates that these search operations and the examination of seized documents will yield crucial leads in the case.

Currently, the CBI is conducting an in-depth investigation into the financial transactions, assets, and associates connected to this entire network.

Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court issued notices to the Centre, the National Testing Agency (NTA) and other authorities on pleas seeking structural reforms in the conduct of the NEET-UG examination, including an immediate transition to a computer-based testing (CBT) mode in the wake of the alleged 2026 paper leak controversy.

A Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe directed that copies of the petitions be served upon Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the Centre’s second-highest law officer, and listed the matter for further hearing on Friday (May 29).

During the proceedings, the apex court remarked that despite the controversy surrounding NEET-UG 2024 and the recommendations made thereafter by a high-powered committee headed by former ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan, concerns regarding examination integrity had resurfaced.

“It’s sad that they have not learnt their lesson,” the Justice Narasimha-led Bench orally observed.

The Supreme Court recalled that after the 2024 controversy, a committee had already been constituted, recommendations were accepted, and even a monitoring mechanism was put in place.

In this backdrop, the Justice Narasimha-led Bench directed the NTA to file an affidavit clarifying the present status regarding compliance with the recommendations of the monitoring committee constituted on November 14, 2024, including details of its functioning.

It also asked Prof. K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman of the high-powered committee, to submit a separate affidavit indicating the steps taken to ensure implementation of the panel’s recommendations as well as compliance with the directions issued earlier by the apex court.

The latest directions came on petitions, including those filed by the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) and the United Doctors Front, seeking accountability and systemic reforms in the conduct of the NEET-UG examination.

–IANS

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