Latur coaching institute sealed after CBI arrests 'M Sir' in NEET 2026 paper leak case

Pune: After being arrested by the CBI in connection with the nationwide NEET UG 2026 paper leak case, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has now sealed the premises of the coaching institute in Latur run by the accused director.

The coaching centre director was praised for raising a voice on behalf of the students during the paper leak controversy in 2024, but has now become one of the accused, reportedly involved with the leak this year. He built one of the largest medical/engineering entrance (NEET/JEE) coaching networks in the state but became a central figure in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the NEET-UG paper leak scandal.

The accused, popularly known as “M Sir”, is a prominent chemistry teacher and founder of the coaching institute in Latur, Maharashtra. He has over 68,000 followers on Instagram and maintains a presence across YouTube, WhatsApp, and his own app on the Play Store. The institute reportedly operates nine branches, with its main centre in Latur, and enrolls around 40,000 students every year.

It has been reported that the PMC sealed the property on Wednesday on the grounds that the property did not have a completion certificate. Without the certificate, the institute was conducting classes for the past one and a half years after renting the place from a private owner. 

Medical Dialogues had reported that CBI arrested the director and owner of a Coaching Institute in the paper leak case. The accused was reportedly questioned for nearly 11 hours on Friday as part of the agency’s ongoing probe into the alleged examination scam. Following the interrogation, a CBI team conducted searches at his coaching institute in Latur and seized important documents, computers, and mobile phones believed to be linked to the case.

The accused runs the institute, which provides coaching for NEET-UG aspirants. The concerned Coaching Institute has nine branches, with its main branch located in Latur. He is also reportedly close to the chemistry lecturer associated with the National Testing Agency (NTA), who was earlier arrested by the agency for his alleged involvement in the paper leak.

Speaking to Indian Express, Aniruddha Pawaskar, City Engineer said, "PMC had repeatedly served notices to the accused over getting the necessary completion certificate, but he had failed to do so. The total area of the classes is 272 sq m. It was being run without a completion certificate. The PMC tax department has already initiated action against the property, imposing a penalty three times the actual assessment for operating without the certificate."

Pawaskar said "The PMC has received the property owner’s application for a completion certificate, but can only be issued after the owner clears his pending tax dues. The day the property owner submits a no-objection certificate from the civic property tax department after clearing the dues, the process of issuing a completion certificate will be carried out. Till then, the certificate cannot be issued."

The CBI got nine days of his custody after a special court on Monday granted permission to the agency. While granting the custody, the court said that the custody of accused Shivraj Raghunath Motegaonkar has been sought in order to identify and apprehend the other co-accused persons involved in the offence and also to recover and analyse the digital devices and digital evidences and communication records, as well as the financial trail connected to the NEET 2026 examination and paper leak network.

The agency has been questioning him for several days and has alleged that he is actively involved in the conspiracy of leakage of the chemistry exam paper before the NEET UG Exam 2026.

This came in the backdrop of the probe by the Rajasthan Police Special Operations Group, which reportedly found a “guess paper” containing more than 100 questions similar to those asked in the NEET UG examination. The question paper series under scrutiny has been described as a “guess paper” which reportedly contained around 410 questions. Out of these, nearly 120 questions are alleged to have appeared in the Biology and Chemistry sections of the examination.

The investigation found that the leaked papers were circulated through WhatsApp and Telegram groups ahead of the NEET UG 2026 examination held on May 3. According to reports, the matter came to light after a Sikar-based MBBS student studying at a medical college in Kerala allegedly shared a PDF of a “guess paper” with his father on May 2. The father, who runs a PG accommodation facility in Sikar, reportedly circulated the document further to a chemistry and a biology teacher who identified the similarities in questions.

As the investigation widened, Rajasthan SOG and later the CBI uncovered what officials described as a multi-state network involving students, coaching-linked persons and middlemen. The alleged leak reportedly spread from Kerala and Rajasthan to Haryana, Maharashtra, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and other states.

The NEET UG 2026 exam was conducted on May 3 by the National Testing Agency and was held from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM in pen-and-paper mode. Over 22.7 lakh aspirants appeared for the examination this year. It took place across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad, covering over 5,400 centres.

However, the NTA on May 12, 2026, declared the cancellation of the examination held on May 3 and subsequently announced the re-examination on June 21, 2026.

Seeking action, the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), the Indian Medical Association Junior Doctors' Network (IMA-JDN) and United Doctors' Front (UDF) filed separate petitions before the Supreme Court demanding the replacement of NTA and strict action against the repeated paper leak incidents.

Who is 'M' Sir?

As per NDTV media report, the accused teacher's journey began in Latur, where he came from a farming family and started his career by taking private tuition classes. In his early days, he reportedly travelled across the city on a bicycle to teach students at different locations.

In the late 1990s, he started coaching classes in a small rented room with around ten students. Initially, he personally handled chemistry teaching, prepared handwritten notes, and taught small batches of Class 11 and 12 students along with entrance examination aspirants. Over time, his coaching grew alongside the famous education model that became well known across Maharashtra for producing toppers in board and competitive examinations.

The institution gradually expanded its presence and became especially popular among NEET, JEE, and CET aspirants because of its chemistry notes, test series, and teaching methods.

Today, the insitution operates multiple centers in cities including Latur, Pune, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nanded, Solapur, and Kolhapur. Estimates suggest that around 40,000 students enroll annually.

Why was he arrested?

The CBI arrested the accused after a viral video showed him interacting with students and asking how many questions from his institution's mock tests had appeared in the actual NEET examination. The students in the video claimed that most of the questions had matched.

Based on this, the CBI conducted searches at the institution's premises in Latur on Sunday while he was simultaneously questioned in Pune. Following the raid, the agency found that he was part of a conspiracy involving other accused persons and some public servants allegedly linked to the National Testing Agency.

The agency claimed that he received copies of the NEET-UG 2026 question paper and answer keys before the examination. During searches conducted at his residence in Latur on May 14, investigators allegedly found leaked questions on his mobile phone. The device has now been seized for forensic examination.

The CBI further alleged that handwritten copies of leaked questions and answers were supplied to several people, including one Patil, and that the teacher later destroyed leaked question papers after the exam, reports Indian Express. 

2024 paper leak scandal

The chemistry teacher from Latur had come into the spotlight during the NEET UG 2024 controversy when allegations of a question paper leak triggered nationwide protests and concern among students.

Taking a public stand during the controversy, he filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court in Sambhajinagar, claiming that a grave injustice had been done to NEET aspirants.

A video from 2024 has now resurfaced showing him speaking in support of students. In the video, recorded from inside a car, he is seen directly addressing students and saying that he had moved the court on their behalf.

He said in the same video as reported by NDTV, "Additionally, we filed a separate petition on behalf of the students, as a massive scam has indeed taken place in NEET 2024. The greatest impact of this scandal is going to fall upon the students pursuing their education in Maharashtra. Today, we have arrived in Mumbai. Today, we will gather all necessary information at the Bombay High Court. We intend to meet with representatives from all the news channels across Maharashtra. Their involvement is crucial, as this needs to evolve into a mass movement. We will appeal to them, emphasising that a grave injustice is being inflicted upon the children, and therefore, their participation in this cause is absolutely essential. That is all I wish to say."

Also read- CBI arrests Latur's coaching centre owner in NEET paper leak case