The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Professor Shivraj Raghunath Motigaonkar, founder of a prominent medical and engineering entrance exam coaching center in Latur in Maharashtra, in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak probe, with officials saying he was part of the “organised syndicate” involved in the leak and had access to chemistry questions on April 23 – 10 days before the exam was to be conducted on May 3.
A special court in Delhi on Monday sent Motigaonkar to the custody of the CBI for nine days.
Shivraj Motegaonkar was close to PV Kulkarni
“Another key accused, Professor Shivaraj Motigaonkar, owner of the RCC (Rinukai Career Centre) Latur coaching institute, has been arrested in the NEET papers leak case. He runs this institute which trains students for the NEET-UG exam. It has nine branches with the main branch in Latur,” a CBI spokesperson said. He is close to P Kulkarni, chemistry lecturer, who is associated with NTA.”
12 hours of CBI interrogation
Motigaonkar was taken into custody on Sunday evening after nearly 12 hours of interrogation at the RBI’s anti-corruption branch office in Pune. It runs the Coaching Institute in Latur and its eight branches across the state. The RCC website claims it has produced more than 15,000 doctors and thousands of engineers over the past two decades. He also runs ‘Motegaonkar Sir’s RCC’ channel on YouTube.
Suspicions over the institute intensified after a parent informed the Latur police that multiple questions in the mock exams conducted by the RCC were similar – and in some cases allegedly identical – to those asked in the actual exam, an official familiar with the matter said. The official said a viral video was being treated as an important piece of circumstantial evidence in the investigation.
The issue gained more attention after a video went viral on social media showing Motigaonkar interacting with students after the exam and asking them how many questions from the mock exams appeared in the actual paper. The students in the video reportedly answered several questions identically.
“Motegaonkar is close to PV Kulkarni, a chemistry lecturer associated with the National Testing Agency,” who was arrested last week and described as one of the leaders of the conspiracy, the CBI said in a statement.
NEET has been cancelled
The case stems from the cancellation of the NEET-UG 2026 exam on May 12 — nine days after 2.27 million students appeared for the exam — after central agencies confirmed that the question paper had been hacked.
The agency said it conducted searches at his residence and institute, which “resulted in the recovery of a chemistry question bank containing exactly the same questions that appeared in the NEET exam held on May 3”. The CBI also accused him of destroying evidence after the examination by disposing of the leaked question papers and handwritten notes.
The officials familiar with the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Motigaonkar is “an active member of the organized gang involved in leaking and distributing NEET UG 2026 exam questions, and who, in conspiracy with others, received the question and answer papers on April 23, 10 days before the exam (May 3).”
(With inputs from Shrinivas Deshpande and Arnabjeet Sur)
