CBI finds leaked NEET Chemistry question paper on arrested Maharashtra teacher’s phone

Delhi court sends coaching centre founder Motegaonkar to 9-day CBI custody

PT News
New Delhi, May 18

The investigation into the NEET UG paper leak case widened further on Monday after the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested a coaching institute founder from Maharashtra’s Latur, a city long associated with competitive exam preparation and medical entrance coaching. The agency arrested Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, founder of Renukai Chemistry Classes, after conducting searches in Latur on Sunday. Officials said a leaked question paper for the NEET UG examination was recovered from his mobile phone during the opera-tion. Following this, he was taken into custody. A Delhi court on Monday sent Motegaonkar to nine days’ CBI custody. Special CBI judge Ajay Gupta allowed nine days of custodial interrogation of the accused after the federal agency sought 10 days of custody. The latest arrest comes just two days after the CBI arrested Pune-based biology lecturer Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, who was part of the NTA’s paper setting committee, after questioning her in Delhi.

According to investigators, Motegaonkar was allegedly part of an organised network involved in the leak and circulation of the NEET UG 2026 question paper. The CBI has claimed that he, along with other accused persons, received the examination paper and answer key before the exam and circulated it among several individuals. For the past four days, CBI teams have remained stationed in Latur as part of the expanding probe. The federal agency had earlier registered an FIR after allegations of a paper leak led to the cancellation of the NEET UG examination held on May 3.