Crime
NEET paper leak: Judicial custody of kingpin PV Kulkarni, coaching director extended till July 8
New Delhi, June 24: A Delhi court on Wednesday extended till July 8 the judicial custody of two accused in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The accused P.V. Kulkarni and Shivaraj Motegaonkar were produced before the Rouse Avenue Court on the expiry of their earlier 14-day judicial custody.
The court directed that both accused remain in judicial custody till July 8.
According to the CBI, Kulkarni, a retired Chemistry professor from Maharashtra’s Latur, was the mastermind behind the alleged paper leak network.
The probe agency has claimed that he was associated with the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) question paper-setting process for several years and misused his access to leak examination content to selected candidates through special coaching sessions conducted in Pune.
Motegaonkar, the director of Latur-based RCC Coaching Institute, is alleged to have played a key role in the dissemination of the leaked paper.
Investigators claim that examination questions and their answers reached him nearly 10 days before the conduct of the NEET-UG 2026 examination.
According to the CBI, Motegaonkar allegedly procured the leaked paper through Kulkarni and co-accused Manisha Mandhare, who is suspected to have played a crucial role in the Biology paper leak.
The CBI had earlier arrested Motegaonkar, stating that he owned the RCC Coaching Institute, which operates nine branches with its main centre in Latur and prepares students for the NEET-UG examination.
The probe agency said searches conducted at the institute and Motegaonkar’s residence led to the recovery of a Chemistry question bank containing questions identical to those that appeared in the now-cancelled NEET-UG 2026 examination held on May 3.
The CBI registered the case on May 12 based on a written complaint received from the Department of Higher Education under the Union Ministry of Education. Following registration of the FIR, special teams were constituted, and searches were carried out at multiple locations across the country.
Earlier this month, the Rouse Avenue Court extended till June 29 the judicial custody of 10 other accused in the case, including Yash Yadav, Mangilal Biwal, Dinesh Biwal, Vikas Biwal, Dhananjay Lokhande, Tejas Harshad Shah, Shubham Khairnar, Manisha Waghmare, Manisha Sanjay Havaldar and Dr Manoj Shirure.
The court had also permitted the CBI to interrogate certain accused inside jail as part of its continuing investigation. The CBI has so far arrested 13 accused in connection with the alleged network involved in procuring and circulating NEET-UG question papers before the examination.
Meanwhile, the National Testing Agency successfully conducted the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination on June 21 after the original examination was cancelled amid concerns over irregularities.
More than 20 lakh medical aspirants appeared at 5,440 examination centres across India and 14 centres abroad. Authorities deployed nearly 7 lakh personnel, including examination staff, police officers, observers and administrative officials, to ensure the smooth conduct of the re-test.
Over 95,000 examination rooms were monitored through more than 1.38 lakh CCTV cameras, while over 51,000 signal jammers were installed to prevent electronic malpractice.
The re-examination was conducted under extensive security measures, including Aadhaar-based biometric verification, facial authentication, two-layer frisking, real-time surveillance and command-and-control centre monitoring, aimed at ensuring transparency and preserving the integrity of one of the country’s largest entrance examinations.
Crime
12 injured in attack on Dalit family in Patna, two critical

At least 12 members of a Dalit family were injured, including two who suffered stab wounds, in an alleged attack following a dispute during an idol immersion procession in Bihar’s Phulwari Sharif area, police said on Thursday.
The incident took place in the Ishopur locality, where a group of around 25 people, allegedly led by Sanjay Yadav, entered the house of Ramkumar Chaudhary and attacked family members with sticks, clubs and knives.
The condition of Ramkumar Chaudhary and Pankaj Kumar was reported to be critical and both are undergoing treatment at AIIMS, Patna.
The other injured were identified as Aman, Riya Kumari, Bahadur Chaudhary, Lalmuni Devi, Pankaj Chaudhary, Ankit, Aarti Devi, Ajay Chaudhary, Deepak and Anil. They were taken to hospitals for treatment.
A video purportedly showing the assault, including the use of knives on the street, has also surfaced.
However, its authenticity and the complete sequence of events are yet to be established through an investigation.
According to local residents, police personnel from the nearby Ishopur police outpost reached the spot after hearing the commotion and attempted to intervene.
The officers were allegedly attacked by the assailants, leaving several police personnel injured.
Additional police forces were subsequently deployed, and the situation was brought under control.
The victims alleged that the attack stemmed from a longstanding dispute between the two families and claimed that similar incidents had occurred in the past.
However, the precise cause of the dispute and the circumstances leading to Thursday’s violence have not been officially established.
Police have detained two people in connection with the incident, while efforts are underway to trace other suspects.
Investigators are examining the circumstances surrounding the clash, the alleged assault on the family and the reported attack on police personnel.
Tension continued to prevail in the locality following the incident, while the injured remained under medical care and police pursued further legal action.
Crime
Jantar Mantar protest: Saurav Das, Ranka, Shinde seek more time to appear before police

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde have sought more time to appear before the Delhi Police Crime Branch for questioning.
Das, Ranka, and Shinde were asked to appear before the Delhi Police Crime Branch at its office in Rajouri Garden at noon on Thursday. However, they requested more time from the Delhi Police.
The police will now issue fresh summons to them.
This comes a day after Das and Ranka were released from Tihar Jail following a week in judicial custody.
Earlier this week, Delhi Police transferred protest cases against the CJP leaders to the Crime Branch.
The cases are in connection with the incident on October 13, when Das, Ranka and Shinde, along with 11 others, trespassed into Jantar Mantar, which has been de-notified as the designated protesting site.
All were detained by the Delhi Police. While Shinde was released on bail bond, Das and Ranka remained in judicial custody for a week.
The CJP members were protesting against alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and raised slogans against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
Das and Ranka were released on Wednesday after submitting written undertakings before a Special Executive Magistrate (SEM), assuring that they would maintain peace and refrain from calling for protests at Jantar Mantar until the site is de-notified in accordance with law.
SEM Ritu Raj directed the release of the two activists after they furnished personal bonds and surety bonds of Rs 50,000 each until the conclusion of the inquiry in connection with the Jantar Mantar trespassing case.
In their written undertakings, both activists promised not to commit any breach of peace and expressed full faith in the judiciary and all its instruments, including the SEM court.
The SEM court observed that the immediate measures required under Section 135(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to prevent a breach of peace or disturbance of public tranquillity could be adequately secured through the execution of bonds, supported by the written undertakings.
Crime
Delhi Police arrests supplier of banned firecrackers, recovers 57.8 kg from his possession

The Anti-Auto Theft Squad (AATS) of Delhi Police’s North-East District has apprehended a supplier of banned firecrackers and recovered 57.8 kg of the prohibited material from his possession, police said on Thursday.
The accused, identified as Vishal (35), a resident of Ashok Nagar in Delhi, was apprehended on October 21 following a targeted operation to curb the illegal supply of banned firecrackers in the district.
According to the police, the operation was conducted on the directions of senior officers by an AATS team led by Inspector Deepak Pandey, in-charge of AATS, North-East District. Acting on secret information, the team laid a trap in the Ashok Nagar area and apprehended the accused while he was carrying multiple sacks containing banned firecrackers weighing 57.8 kg.
Following the recovery, a case was registered under FIR No. 466/26, dated October 21, at Jyoti Nagar police station under Section 223(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 9B of the Explosives Act. An investigation into the matter has been initiated.
Police said the accused had previously been involved in three criminal cases registered under Sections 188 and 286 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Sections 223(A) and 288 of the BNS, and Sections 115(2), 126(2) and 3(5) of the BNS.
In a separate incident earlier this month, a joint team of the Delhi Police’s Anti-Auto Theft Squad and Harsh Vihar police station uncovered an illegal storage facility for firecrackers in Mandoli village and recovered 567.30 kg of firecrackers and related material. One person was apprehended in connection with the case, police said on Wednesday.
According to the police, the incident came to light on October 12 when a police team conducting area patrol received information about firecrackers being stored at a premises in Mandoli. The information was immediately shared with Harsh Vihar police station, following which a team reached the location.
At the premises, located on the first floor of a house in Gali No. 12, near Government Senior Secondary School in Mandoli, police found a large quantity of firecrackers and materials used in their manufacture stored in cartons and sacks.
The recovered material was inspected, weighed, sampled and seized following the prescribed procedure.
An FIR (No. 315/2026) was subsequently registered at Harsh Vihar police station under Section 288 of the BNS and Section 9B of the Explosives Act, 1884.
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