Desk Correspondent , Mumbai — The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday arrested Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar, the director of Renukai Chemistry Classes (RCC) in Latur, Maharashtra, marking the tenth arrest in the nationwide NEET-UG paper leak scandal. Motegaonkar allegedly received the leaked medical entrance exam paper on his phone on April 23—ten days before the May 3 test—and distributed the questions and answers to multiple individuals as part of an organized gang. Following massive irregularities, the exam for over 22 lakh students has been cancelled, with a retest scheduled for June 21 and admit cards expected by June 14.

The illicit operation allegedly began in the final week of April, with the scale of the fraud coming to light after a parent noticed that RCC’s mock tests featured questions identical to the actual NEET-UG exam. Motegaonkar’s phone is currently undergoing forensic examination as investigators map out his network. The CBI formally took over the multi-state probe on May 12 following a complaint from the Union Education Ministry, after initial cases surfaced in Rajasthan on May 7 and were briefly handled by local police.

Maharashtra’s Pune and Latur regions have emerged as the epicenters of the central agency's crackdown. Motegaonkar is the second major suspect nabbed from Latur, following the earlier arrest of the alleged mastermind, P.V. Kulkarni, a retired chemistry teacher accused of conducting secret coaching sessions with the leaked papers. The CBI has also arrested senior botany teacher Manisha Gurunath Mandhare from Pune and beauty parlor owner Manisha Waghmare as it continues to untangle the links between the accused.