Latur coaching centre founder arrested in NEET-UG paper leak
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday arrested a founder of a coaching center in Maharashtra’s Latur in connection with NEET-UG paper leak. Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, founder of Renukai Chemistry Classes (RCC), a well-known coaching centre in Latur, is accused of being a key figure in an organised gang that circulated the leaked NEET-UG paper.
The trail leads straight to the heart of the National Testing Agency (NTA). Motegaonkar is closely linked to PV Kulkarni, a retired chemistry professor from Latur. Kulkarni sat on the NTA’s paper-setting committee for the subject. He was earlier arrested as the alleged “kingpin” and reportedly had direct access to the confidential questions. Investigators suspect an old network between the two men fed the leak through secret classes and handwritten notes.
They believe this bypassed digital trails.
CBI officials say they recovered a leaked question set on his phone dated April 23. That was a full 10 days before the May 3 exam. The agency alleges he actively participated in leaking and circulating the paper. Searches at RCC’s Shivnagar office in Latur stretched into Sunday evening.
A complaint filed in the Latur police station alleged that 42 chemistry questions from an RCC mock test, circulated as ‘Guess Papers’, were carbon-copy identical to the actual NEET-UG paper. A viral video shows Motegaonkar himself asking students after the exam how many of the institute’s mock questions had appeared on it. The video only added fuel to the fire. “This wasn’t coaching. This was cheating at scale,” one parent told the CBI team.
Opposition parties, including Congress, have seized on the scandal. They staged protests in Latur and demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. They called repeated leaks under the current regime, yet the CBI’s probe points squarely at the Latur coaching nexus and alleged NTA insiders, not political patronage.
Parliament storm over NEET
New Delhi: Congress chief whip in the Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh on Monday moved a privilege notice against Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for allegedly lowering the dignity of Parliament with remarks made at a press conference after the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak. A parliamentary panel is also reviewing the implementation of reforms in the National Testing Agency (NTA) following the NEET-UG paper leak and has summoned NTA Chairperson Pradeep Kumar Joshi and other bureaucrats.
The panel, headed by Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, has summoned Vineet Joshi, Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, and NTA Chairperson Pradeep Kumar Joshi. In his notice submitted to Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan, Ramesh said that during a press conference on May 15 after the cancellation of the NEET-UG exam, Pradhan made some “derogatory” remarks against a parliamentary committee, which “reveal his contempt for Parliament”. Ramesh said it is well established that any derogatory references to parliamentary committees or members of parliamentary committees constitute a “gross contempt” of such committees, which in turn constitutes contempt of the House.
