NEET-UG paper leak fallout: Latur admin orders crackdown on illegal coaching classes

LATUR: Latur's connection to the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak and subsequent investigation by the CBI has prompted the district administration to order a crackdown on illegal coaching classes, some of them operating from industrial units, and related infrastructure.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested 11 accused, including retired professor PV Kulkarni and Renukai Career Centre director Shivraj Motegaonkar. The district administration has begun tightening its grip on the city's controversial 'coaching classes area', officials said.

On Friday, the Zilla Udyog Kendra (District Industries Centre) issued directives ordering the immediate closure of all commercial activities running illegally in industrial sheds allotted for manufacturing purposes within the Latur Industrial Estate Co-operative Society.

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The move comes shortly after the CBI arrested Pune-based Manisha Havaldar for allegedly leaking Physics questions of the NEET examination. According to the official letter issued by the District Industries Centre on May 22, the action was initiated following a meeting chaired by the Latur District Collector.

The administration observed that several industrial units in the MIDC area were being misused for private coaching classes, hostels, mess facilities, hotels, study rooms, book centres and other commercial activities instead of industrial production.

The industrial plots and sheds were originally leased to entrepreneurs strictly for manufacturing and industrial purposes. However, after the decline of several industries post-2000, many units were reportedly rented out to the booming private coaching sector, transforming the locality into Latur's well-known 'tuition area', the letter stated.

In its notice to the president of Latur Industrial Estate Co-operative Society, the DIC has warned that strict legal action will follow if the orders are not implemented immediately.