The CBI has recovered Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar’s phone, in which 36 images (five duplicate images) containing 132 handwritten questions of chemistry were found, the agency said. File.
| Photo Credit: RCC Website, The Hindu
Latur-based coaching centre owner Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the NEET paper leak case, allegedly paid ₹5 lakh to procure chemistry questions from P.V. Kulkarni, who was on the National Testing Agency (NTA) panel that set the questions for the examination, the agency told a special court.
The agency alleged on Wednesday (July 15, 2026) that Motegaonkar’s son attended the coaching classes of Kulkarni, where the questions were provided.
In its response to a bail application filed by Motegaonkar, the agency alleged that he, “in conspiracy with the co-accused, procured leaked NEET (UG) chemistry questions prior to the exam and paid ₹5 lakh for the same”.
The agency said Motegaonkar prepared handwritten notes from the questions provided in Kulkarni’s chemistry tutorial classes.
The CBI has recovered Motegaonkar’s phone, in which 36 images (five duplicate images) containing 132 handwritten questions of chemistry were found, the agency said.
It has found that 111 of these questions allegedly match with the questions in the NTA’s master question sets prepared for NEET (UG) 2026, the CBI said in its response.
These were purportedly in the handwriting of Motegaonkar, it claimed, adding that metadata analysis has shown that these pictures were taken nearly 10 days before the May 3 NEET (UG) examination.
“Incriminating notes of chemistry questions relating to NEET UG 2026, allegedly in the handwriting of …Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, were recovered from his mobile phone. The money allegedly paid for sourcing the leaked questions was recovered by CBI at the instance of co-accused Manoj Bhagwanrao Shirure,” the agency said.
The agency has arrested 13 persons in the case, all of whom are in judicial custody.
On May 12, the NTA cancelled the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET-UG, held on May 3 for medical admissions amid allegations of a paper leak. A re-exam was then held on June 21.
Published – July 16, 2026 09:50 am IST
