Latur Coaching Owner Paid Rs 5 Lakh To Procure NEET Questions From NTA Paper-Setter, Says CBI

New Delhi, Jul 16: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged that a Latur-based coaching centre owner paid Rs 5 lakh to procure leaked chemistry questions for the NEET-UG 2026 examination from a member of the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) paper-setting panel.

In its response to a bail plea filed by accused Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar before a special court, the CBI claimed that he conspired with co-accused to obtain leaked chemistry questions before the May 3 examination. The agency alleged that Motegaonkar paid Rs 5 lakh to P. V. Kulkarni, who was associated with the NTA’s question-setting panel.

According to the CBI, Motegaonkar’s son attended Kulkarni’s coaching classes, where the leaked questions were allegedly shared. The agency said Motegaonkar prepared handwritten notes based on the questions provided during these classes.

Investigators recovered Motegaonkar’s mobile phone, which allegedly contained 36 images, including five duplicates, featuring 132 handwritten chemistry questions. Of these, 111 questions reportedly matched those in the NTA’s master question sets prepared for NEET-UG 2026.

The CBI further claimed that metadata analysis showed the photographs were taken nearly 10 days before the examination, strengthening its allegation that the questions were accessed in advance.

The agency also said handwritten chemistry notes, allegedly prepared by Motegaonkar, were recovered from his phone, while the Rs 5 lakh allegedly paid for sourcing the leaked questions was recovered at the instance of co-accused Manoj Bhagwanrao Shirure.

So far, the CBI has arrested 13 people in the case, all of whom remain in judicial custody.

The National Testing Agency cancelled the May 3 NEET-UG examination on May 12 following allegations of a paper leak and conducted a re-examination on June 21. (Agencies)