CBI nabs Latur coaching kingpin in medical exam scandal
Central Bureau of Investigation sleuths arrested Maharashtra coaching tycoon Shivraj Motegaonkar on Sunday, marking the tenth arrest in the widening NEET paper leak 2026 investigation. Federal investigators allege that the founder of Renukai Career Centre (RCC) operated as an active member of a syndicate that leaked and distributed NEET-UG question papers prior to the May 3 examination.
Investigators focused on the entrepreneur following a viral video where he questioned students about identical matches between RCC mock tests and the actual paper. Agency officials executed simultaneous raids on RCC facilities in Latur and Pune, seizing mobile devices that contained digital copies of the compromised question papers. Forensic teams are currently auditing 42 chemistry questions circulated by the institute as "guess questions" that mirror the leaked examination sheet.
The probe reveals that Motegaonkar allegedly conspired with corrupt public servants linked to the National Testing Agency (NTA) to supply handwritten answer keys to accomplices, including a suspect named Vivek Patil. Authorities charged the coaching executive under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Prevention of Corruption Act, and the Public Examinations Act, 2024.
Decades before his arrest, Motegaonkar began his career as an impoverished farmer's son who traveled by bicycle to deliver home tuitions in Latur. He launched his venture in 1999 inside a rented room with only ten students, relying entirely on handwritten chemistry notes. The venture expanded rapidly into an educational powerhouse training 40,000 students annually across multiple cities, including Pune and Nashik, commands annual student fees up to Rs 65,000.
Known widely as "M Sir" among his alumni, the entrepreneur's reputation crumbled as detectives exposed his connections to jailed chemistry professor P V Kulkarni. Kulkarni, a former RCC instructor, is a primary suspect in the initial compromise of the chemistry section questions.
