NEET paper leak: Delhi Court sends RCC owner to 9-day CBI custody

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, founder of Maharashtra-based Renukai Coaching Classes (RCC), in connection with the alleged NEET UG 2026 paper leak case after investigators allegedly recovered a leaked question paper from his mobile phone, officials said on Monday. The arrest came a day after the CBI conducted searches at RCC’s main office in Latur city’s Shivnagar locality as part of its ongoing probe into the alleged leak of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) paper.According to officials, a leaked question paper for the medical entrance examination was found on Motegaonkar’s mobile phone during searches carried out by the agency on Sunday.
The CBI has alleged that Motegaonkar was an active member of an organised gang involved in the leakage and circulation of the NEET UG paper. He  allegedly received the exam paper on April 23, 10 days before the medical entrance test. As per sources, Motegaonkar was part of an organised gang who had the paper on his phone and had leaked the questions and answers to several persons. Motegaonkar's arrest makes for the 10th person the CBI has caught in the ongoing probe so far, with nine arrests across five states being made earlier.
Motegaonkar is the second person to have been arrested from Latur in the ongoing probe. Before him, the CBI arrested “kingpin” of the paper leak, PV Kulkarni, from Latur, who is a retired chemistry teacher accused of leaking the questions to students through secretly organised coaching sessions days before the nationwide test. The CBI has also arrested Manisha Gurunath Mandhare, a senior botany teacher from Pune. A Pune-based beauty parlour owner, Manisha Waghmare, is another accused who was arrested on May 14.
The agency probe has so far revealed that the paper leak operation began in the final week of April, just days before the May 3 exam. The case had first surfaced in Rajasthan on May 7, and the CBI formally took over the probe on May 12 after the Union education ministry filed a formal complaint. On Monday , Delhi court sends coaching centre founder Shivraj Motegaonkar to 9-day CBI custody.

VIDEO | NEET paper leak: Delhi court sends coaching centre founder Shivraj Motegaonkar to 9-day CBI custody. pic.twitter.com/bWe9lob2Eb

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Over 22 lakh students appeared in the NEET-UG medical entrance exam on May 3, which now stands cancelled. A retest has been ordered for June 21, and admit cards will be released by June 14.

(Freelance Journalist)