PUNE: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday night arrested Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, founder-director of Latur-based Renukai Career Centre (RCC Pattern), alleging that he received the leaked NEET-UG 2026 question paper and answer key nearly 10 days before the national medical entrance examination held on May 3. According to agency officials and arrest documents accessed by HT, the CBI has alleged that Motegaonkar was an “active member of the organised gang” involved in the leakage and circulation of the NEET-UG 2026 examination paper. (HT)Motegaonkar, whose RCC classes are among Latur’s most successful coaching institutes, was arrested after nearly 12 hours of questioning at the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Branch office in Pune.According to agency officials and arrest documents accessed by HT, the CBI has alleged that Motegaonkar was an “active member of the organised gang” involved in the leakage and circulation of the NEET-UG 2026 examination paper. Deputy Superintendent of Police DC Yadav of the CBI Anti-Corruption Branch, Bengaluru, carried out the arrest procedure around 7:15 p.m. on May 17 while camping in Pune as part of the investigation. According to the “Arrest Cum Personal Search Memo”, the agency alleged that Motegaonkar received the leaked question paper and answer key on April 23, around 10 days before the examination was conducted across the country and abroad. The CBI further stated that during searches conducted at Motegaonkar’s residence in the Shivaji Nagar area of Latur on May 14, investigators allegedly recovered leaked NEET-UG 2026 questions from his personal mobile phone. The handset has been seized and will be sent for forensic examination to recover deleted data, if any, officials said. Investigators alleged that Motegaonkar, as part of a criminal conspiracy involving other accused persons and individuals linked to the National Testing Agency (NTA), circulated handwritten copies of the leaked question papers and answer sheets to several people, including a person identified as Vivek Patil and others. According to the arrest memo, the accused allegedly failed to disclose the identities of all beneficiaries who received copies of the leaked examination material.The agency also accused him of destroying evidence after the examination by disposing of the leaked question papers and handwritten notes. The CBI said Motegaonkar’s custodial interrogation was necessary to prevent destruction of evidence, identify all beneficiaries, trace the wider network involved in the leak and prevent any influence on witnesses or co-accused. He has been booked under sections 61(2), 238, 303(2), 316(5) and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), sections 13(2) read with 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and sections 10 read with 3, 4, 5 and 11 of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024. The case has drawn nationwide attention after allegations surfaced that several questions appearing in mock NEET tests conducted by RCC Pattern allegedly matched the actual NEET-UG 2026 examination paper. According to sources, suspicion around the institute intensified after a parent approached the Latur police claiming that multiple questions appearing in mock tests conducted by RCC were strikingly similar—and in some cases allegedly identical—to those asked in the actual examination. The matter gained further traction after a video circulated widely on social media allegedly showed Motegaonkar interacting with students after the examination and asking them how many questions from the mock tests had appeared in the actual NEET paper.Students in the video reportedly responded that several questions had matched. Investigators are now examining whether the mock tests were prepared using leaked examination content obtained in advance. The viral video is being treated as an important piece of circumstantial evidence in the probe, sources said. The agency is also verifying digital communication records, financial transactions and the timeline of mock tests conducted at the institute. Statements of students who attended the sessions are likely to be recorded to determine whether candidates were knowingly given access to confidential examination material before the test. The CBI has already arrested chemistry lecturer PV Kulkarni and biology lecturer Manisha Mandhare in connection with the case. Both were allegedly known to another accused, Manisha Waghmare, who is also in CBI custody. According to investigators, the lecturers had allegedly roped in Waghmare to bring NEET aspirants for special sessions before the examination. Students allegedly paid several lakh rupees to attend these sessions, during which they wrote down questions in notebooks that later allegedly “tallied exactly” with the actual NEET-UG paper. As part of the expanding probe, the CBI on Saturday conducted searches at the residence of a businessman in Nanded. Investigators suspect the businessman allegedly paid ₹5 lakh to obtain the NEET question paper for his daughter ahead of the examination. After completing searches in Nanded, the agency team proceeded to Latur, where another round of searches was conducted at the RCC institute office on Sunday. The NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case has triggered a major controversy nationwide. The examination was conducted across 551 cities in India and 14 overseas centres, with nearly 23 lakh candidates registered for the test conducted by the NTA. According to the NTA, information regarding alleged malpractice was received on the evening of May 7, four days after the examination. The information was subsequently shared with central agencies for independent verification and investigation. Sources said the probe is expanding rapidly and more individuals from Latur district, including those linked to coaching networks and middlemen, may come under the scanner in the coming days. Founded in 1999 by Motegaonkar with an initial batch of 10 students, RCC Pattern has grown into one of Maharashtra’s largest competitive exam coaching chains with multiple branches across the state. The institute provides coaching for NEET, JEE and CET examinations and also operates hostel facilities and large academic campuses. According to sources, the coaching network now caters to nearly 20,000 students annually and generates revenues estimated to exceed ₹100 crore through its various branches and associated facilities. The institute’s website describes Motegaonkar as a gold medallist in Chemistry and claims RCC Pattern has helped produce more than 15,000 doctors and thousands of engineers over the past two decades. Over the years, this has emerged as one of the best coaching institutes that prepares students well for competitive exams like NEET, AIIMS, IIT-JEE.The website further claimed that its team of dedicated faculty has been guiding young students to fulfil their dreams of becoming doctors and engineers for the last two decades. Since its inception, RCC Pattern has produced more than 15,000 doctors and thousands of engineers from various reputed institutes in India.According to an official statement released by the agency, “Motegaonkar is close to P V Kulkarni, a Chemistry lecturer associated with NTA. Searches conducted at his institute and residence resulted in the recovery of a Chemistry question bank which contained exactly the same questions which appeared in the NEET exam held on 3 May.”In the last 24 hours, the CBI conducted searches at five locations and seized several incriminating documents, laptops, and mobile phones. Detailed analysis of the seized items is going on.So far, 10 suspects have been arrested in this case from Delhi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Nashik, Pune, Latur and Ahilyanagar. Earlier, nine of the accused were produced in court, which remanded them to police custody for interrogation.