New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged that a coaching centre owner from Maharashtra paid Rs 5 lakh to obtain leaked chemistry questions ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 examination, according to submissions made before a special court.
The allegation surfaced during the hearing of a bail application filed by Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, a coaching centre owner based in Latur. The CBI told the court that Motegaonkar conspired with other accused individuals to procure chemistry questions before the examination.
According to the agency, the questions were allegedly obtained from P V Kulkarni, a member of the National Testing Agency’s question-setting panel for NEET-UG 2026. The CBI stated that Motegaonkar’s son attended Kulkarni’s coaching classes, where the questions were allegedly shared.
Investigators claimed that Motegaonkar prepared handwritten notes based on the questions provided during those classes. During the investigation, the agency recovered his mobile phone and found 36 images, including five duplicate images, containing 132 handwritten chemistry questions.
The CBI said its analysis found that 111 of those questions matched the master question sets prepared for the examination. Metadata examination reportedly showed that the images were created nearly 10 days before the NEET-UG examination held on May 3.
The agency further informed the court that handwritten notes linked to the accused were recovered from his phone. It also stated that the money allegedly used to obtain the leaked questions was recovered during the investigation through another accused person.
The CBI has arrested 13 individuals in connection with the case, and all remain in judicial custody.
The National Testing Agency cancelled the May 3 NEET-UG examination on May 12 following allegations of a paper leak. Authorities later conducted a fresh examination on June 21.
