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One of the strongest pieces of evidence yet in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case has surfaced in a Delhi court.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has told the court that 111 of the 136 handwritten questions recovered from the mobile phone of Latur-based coaching operator Shivraj Motegaonkar matched the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) master question paper, bolstering its claim that the examination paper had been leaked before the test.
Motegaonkar runs Renukai Chemistry Classes (RCC), a coaching institute in Latur, Maharashtra, as well as a YouTube channel called ‘Motegaonkar Sir’s RCC’, which has over 1.6 lakh subscribers.
The CBI alleges that Motegaonkar received the leaked questions on April 23, days before the May 3 NEET-UG examination, through an alleged chain involving Dr Manoj Shirure, a Latur-based paediatrician, and PV Kulkarni, a retired chemistry lecturer and former NTA panel member who allegedly had access to the question papers. The agency claims the questions were leaked in exchange for Rs 5 lakh. Motegaonkar has been arrested in the case, and these allegations form part of the CBI’s submissions before the court opposing his bail.
According to the CBI, PDF copies of the leaked question paper were allegedly sold through Telegram for Rs 10 lakh. Investigators also claimed that a 150-page “guess paper" containing 410 questions had been circulated among some aspirants weeks before the examination. Of these, around 120 questions were found to match those in the chemistry section of the exam, suggesting that candidates had access to a substantial portion of the paper in advance.
The Maharashtra link emerged after investigators began examining the circulation of a so-called “guess paper" that surfaced before the examination.
Earlier investigations had found that more than 100 questions in the circulated material matched the actual NEET-UG paper, prompting authorities to widen the investigation beyond Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. The probe subsequently expanded to Maharashtra, where investigators examined the alleged role of the Latur tutor and others connected to the network.
The controversy began when a purported “guess paper" circulating among students in Rajasthan was found to have an unusually high overlap with the actual question paper. Investigators later found that more than 100 questions matched, prompting the Rajasthan Special Operations Group (SOG) to register a case and launch an investigation.
As the probe expanded, investigators uncovered what they believe was an organised network involving question paper setters, intermediaries, coaching operators and candidates spread across multiple states, including Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana and Delhi. The case was subsequently transferred to the CBI.
The alleged leak eventually led the National Testing Agency (NTA) to cancel the May 3 examination and order a nationwide re-test on June 21, affecting more than 20 lakh candidates.
