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Tight security as India holds exam retest after leak scandal

By AFP
June 22, 2026
Police personnel stand guard outside an examination centre on the eve of NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) retest in Ahmedabad, India, June 20, 2026. — Reuters
Police personnel stand guard outside an examination centre on the eve of NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) retest in Ahmedabad, India, June 20, 2026. — Reuters

New Delhi: India’s 2.2 million aspiring medical students sit a re-examination under tight security on Sunday, after the last test was scrapped following a paper leak that triggered widespread outrage.

The failure of the hugely competitive exam, along with a separate marking fiasco in high school tests, sparked an outcry and fuelled youth protests demanding the education minister’s resignation. The authorities say they have deployed more than 200,000 officials, including police, and restricted the Telegram messaging app.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) said it had put in a place a “multi-layered security framework to ensure a fair and transparent examination”.