Delhi court sends NEET paper leak accused to CBI custody

A Delhi court sent Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar to nine days’ CBI custody in the NEET paper leak case after investigators alleged he circulated leaked exam papers and answers through his coaching centre before the May 3 NEET-UG examination

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday sent Renukai Career Centre founder Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar to nine days’ CBI custody in the NEET paper leak case. Special CBI judge Ajay Gupta allowed nine days of custodial interrogation of the accused after the federal agency sought 10 days of custody.

The CBI said that Motegaonkar was arrested on Sunday evening in Latur and during searches, a leaked question paper of the examination held on May 3 was recovered from his personal mobile phone.

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The agency alleged that he was an active member of the organised gang involved in the leakage and circulation of the NEET-UG paper, and “played a key role in circulating the question paper and answers through his coaching centre”.

According to the CBI, “The question paper was leaked through him to a large number of students.” It said that he received the question paper and answers on April 23, nearly 10 days before the exam, and provided copies of the leaked question papers and answer sheets to several people as handwritten notes, which were destroyed after the examination. The CBI said it was probing his links to the alleged kingpin, Prahlad Vithalrao Kulkarni.

The agency had earlier arrested a Chemistry lecturer, P V Kulkarni, and a Biology lecturer, Manisha Mandhare, both known to each other through a woman, Manisha Waghmare, who is also in CBI custody.

It alleged that the two lecturers had roped in Waghmare to bring in NEET aspirants for special sessions before the examination. Motegaonkar’s counsel, however, said that there was no need for his client’s custody, as he had been teaching since 1999 and that all relevant material had been seized.