CBI: Latur Coaching Owner Paid ₹5 Lakh to Obtain Leaked NEET Questions

New Delhi, Jul 16: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged that a Latur-based coaching institute owner paid ₹5 lakh to obtain leaked chemistry questions for the NEET-UG 2026 examination from a member of the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) paper-setting panel. In its reply to the bail plea of accused Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar before a special court, the CBI claimed that he conspired with co-accused to procure leaked chemistry questions before the May 3 examination. According to the agency, the leaked questions were allegedly supplied by P. V. Kulkarni, who was part of the NTA panel responsible for preparing the NEET-UG 2026 question paper. The CBI said Motegaonkar’s son attended Kulkarni’s coaching classes, where the questions were allegedly shared. The investigation revealed that Motegaonkar prepared handwritten notes based on the leaked questions. The CBI said it recovered his mobile phone, which contained 36 images (including five duplicates) featuring 132 handwritten chemistry questions. The agency further claimed that 111 of these questions matched those in the NTA’s master question sets prepared for the examination. Metadata analysis of the images allegedly showed they were created nearly 10 days before the NEET-UG exam. The CBI also told the court that the handwritten notes were allegedly in Motegaonkar’s handwriting and that the ₹5 lakh paid for obtaining the leaked questions was recovered during the investigation at the instance of co-accused Manoj Bhagwanrao Shirure. So far, the CBI has arrested 13 people in connection with the alleged paper leak case, and all of them are currently in judicial custody. The National Testing Agency (NTA) had cancelled the NEET-UG 2026 examination held on May 3 following allegations of a paper leak. A re-examination was subsequently conducted on June 21.