Days after a video of RCC Classes owner Shivraj Motegaonkar asking students how many “mock test” questions had appeared in the actual NEET examination, went viral, the CBI on Sunday searched the Latur coaching institute and again questioned him in connection with the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case.

Investigators are examining a set of 42 chemistry questions circulated by the institute before the examination as “guess questions”, after similarities were allegedly found between those questions and portions of the leaked NEET paper.

RCC Classes, considered a major player in Latur’s coaching industry, is estimated by local coaching sources to have an annual turnover of more than Rs 100 crore.

According to sources, Motegaonkar was questioned for over 10 hours on Friday and was summoned again to the CBI’s Pune office on Sunday. While he was being questioned in Pune, another CBI team searched the institute’s headquarters in Latur, checking documents, computers and electronic devices for evidence linked to the 42 chemistry questions.

The searches began Sunday morning at the institute’s campus, where Classes 11 and 12 students prepare for NEET and JEE examinations. Police personnel were deployed outside the building as officers moved in and out carrying files and electronic devices.

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In the viral video, Motegaonkar asks students how many questions from mock tests conducted by the institute had appeared in the actual NEET examination. Students respond that most of the questions had appeared in the examination. Investigators are examining whether the questions circulated by the institute overlapped with leaked questions distributed through the alleged paper leak network.

“A CBI team came with police personnel and started checking documents, computers and electronic devices inside the classes. We were not told anything beforehand,” a staff member said.

The probe has also brought focus back on retired chemistry professor PV Kulkarni, arrested earlier by the CBI and alleged to be a key figure in the chemistry paper leak. Sources familiar with Latur’s coaching circles said Kulkarni had briefly taught at RCC Classes and that Motegaonkar had once publicly referred to him as his “guru” during an event. Investigators are now examining whether any professional or financial links between the two are relevant to the case.

The agency has widened its investigation across Maharashtra, probing the role of coaching operators, middlemen, suspected paper buyers and individuals allegedly linked to the confidential examination process. Investigators suspect Telegram was used extensively to circulate leaked questions and coordinate with students and intermediaries. Deleted chats, call records, CCTV footage and data recovered from seized devices are now under scrutiny.

The investigation has also intensified in Nashik after the arrest of accused Shubham Khairnar, who investigators suspect handled biology-related leaks through a separate network. Officials are examining CCTV footage near his residence and office, along with his call records and social media activity, while questioning several of his associates.

In Nanded, a CBI team on Saturday questioned the family of a construction businessman suspected of purchasing leaked NEET papers for his daughter. According to sources, investigators suspect the family paid around Rs 5 lakh for access to leaked questions and are examining the student’s sharp rise in mock test scores after she shifted to Pune shortly before the examination.

According to the CBI, Kulkarni, who taught chemistry at Dayanand College in Latur for nearly 28 years, allegedly used his access to the examination process to leak chemistry-related questions through intermediaries. Investigators suspect different members of the network handled different subjects separately, with Kulkarni allegedly handling chemistry-related leaks and Khairnar allegedly overseeing biology-related leaks.

The agency has also alleged that Pune-based accused Manisha Waghmare acted as a middleperson between candidates and members of the network, while another accused, teacher Manisha Mandhare, allegedly knew several people linked to the case.

So far, the CBI has arrested nine accused from different states in connection with the alleged racket, which investigators believe stretched across coaching institutes, middlemen and candidates in multiple cities across Maharashtra.

WHO IS SHIVRAJ Motegaonkar?

Before the CBI searches and the scrutiny over the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, Shivraj Motegaonkar was best known in Maharashtra’s coaching circles as “M Sir” the chemistry teacher from Latur who built RCC Classes into one of the state’s biggest NEET-JEE coaching brands.

According to people familiar with his journey, Motegaonkar came from a farming family in Latur and began his career taking private tuition classes for science students, often travelling across the city on a bicycle. Around 1999, he started coaching classes from a rented room with just 10 students. Former students recall that in the early years, he personally taught chemistry, prepared handwritten notes and conducted small batches for Class 11, 12 and entrance examination aspirants.

Over the next two decades, RCC Renukai Career Centre grew alongside Latur’s booming coaching economy and became closely associated with the district’s famous “Latur Pattern” of entrance exam preparation. RCC’s chemistry notes, test-series modules and teaching methods became widely followed among NEET, JEE and CET aspirants across Maharashtra.

Today, according to local coaching industry estimates, nearly 40,000 students enrol at RCC centres annually across cities, including Latur, Pune, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nanded, Solapur and Kolhapur. Based on fee structures, local industry sources estimate the institute’s turnover at well over Rs 100 crore annually.

Former students describe Motegaonkar as a teacher who simplified chemistry for students from rural and semi-urban backgrounds. “He is considered a prestigious personality because of the work he has done in education,” one former student said, recalling that RCC initially charged relatively lower fees and focused heavily on concept-based teaching.

As RCC expanded, the institute moved beyond classroom coaching into digital learning, statewide test series, mentorship programmes and app-based preparation material for NEET, JEE and MHT-CET aspirants. According to the institute’s website, Motegaonkar is an M.Sc gold medallist in chemistry and is described as a “visionary educator”.

Investigators are also probing his links with retired chemistry professor P V Kulkarni, arrested earlier in the case and accused of leaking chemistry-related questions. Sources in Latur’s coaching circles said Kulkarni had briefly taught at RCC Classes in the past and was once publicly referred to by Motegaonkar as his “guru”.