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NEET UG paper leak row: Latur-based doctor detained; CBI probes role of RCC Classes founder’s family
Sources familiar with the probe said the agency is also examining whether the doctor played any role in circulating leaked NEET papers among candidates or intermediaries linked to Maharashtra’s coaching and admission network.
Security personnel and civic officials at the sealed premises of RCC Coaching Classes in Pune on Wednesday. (ANI)
Investigating the alleged leak of NEET-UG 2026 question paper, the CBI on Wednesday detained a paediatrician, Manoj Shirole, from Latur, a day after the agency questioned him over his suspected role in obtaining and circulating leaked question papers.
Sources said the doctor, whose residence and clinic in Latur’s Old Ausa Road area were searched by the CBI on Tuesday, was taken to Pune for further interrogation.
The agency is also probing the role of family members of Shivraj Motegaonkar, the founder of Latur-based RCC Classes, after it found that his son had also appeared in the entrance exam on May 3.
Investigators are examining Shirole’s links with suspected paper buyers, financial transactions and communication records with the alleged leak network.
Sources familiar with the probe said the agency is also examining whether the doctor played any role in circulating leaked NEET papers among candidates or intermediaries linked to Maharashtra’s coaching and admission network.
Officials indicated that the doctor may formally be placed under arrest depending on the outcome of the ongoing questioning.
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The development comes days after the CBI arrested Shivraj Motegaonkar in the alleged paper leak case.
Sources said the CBI on Wednesday recorded the statement of Motegaonkar’s wife, who is a director of one of the companies registered under RCC, after questioning the couple’s son on Tuesday.
Investigators suspect Motegaonkar was part of a larger network linked to the alleged leak of NEET chemistry paper questions. The CBI alleged that he had received the leaked question paper and answers as early as April 23 — 10 days before the exam. A CBI team also searched the premises of RCC Classes in Latur and the leaked questions were allegedly found on Motegaonkar’s phone.
Motegaonkar was allegedly a close friend of Prahlad Kulkarni, the retired teacher who was “associated with National Testing Agency (NTA)” and arrested from Pune last week.
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A source said the CBI on Wednesday moved an application before a Delhi Court, requesting to get specimen signature of five persons: Motegaonkar, Mangilal Khatik, Vikas Biwal, Dinesh Biwal, all three arrested from Jaipur and Yash Yadav, who was arrested from Gurgaon.
Multiple teams of the CBI are currently questioning students, who appeared in the NEET exam, and one of the teams is also conducting searches in Nanded, Maharashtra.
The CBI also detailed its charges against some of the other accused before the Delhi court: Dhananjay Lokhande; Manisha Waghmare, a Pune-based beautician; Shubham Khairnar, who ran a counselling business in Nashik.
“Lokhande obtained the NEET-UG 2026 question paper from co-accused Waghmare and transmitted it to Khairnar. On April 29, Yadav allegedly received PDF files of the leaked paper from Khairnar via Telegram. Kulkarni allegedly supplied questions to certain persons through Waghmare. They allegedly conspired with Manisha Mandhare, an NTA question-setting panel expert tagged as a key mastermind who leaked the final question sets to select students for substantial payments,” the CBI told the court.
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In Rajasthan, the CBI told the court, Mangilal allegedly received the leaked paper from Yadav for Rs 10 lakh on the condition that around 150 questions would match the original. He allegedly received the papers on Telegram on April 29 and distributed printed copies to his sons and others, including a teacher named Satyanarayan.
Mangilal’s son Vikas allegedly told investigators that he came in touch with Yadav during NEET coaching in Sikar. Yadav allegedly offered leaked papers for money and asked Vikas to recruit more candidates, according to the CBI.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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