India holds re-exam under tight security following leak

More than 200,000 officials, including police, deployed; Telegram messaging app restricted

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 place a "multi-layered security framework to ensure a fair and transparent examination".

That includes biometric authentication, AI-enabled camera surveillance, and GPS tracking of question papers, it said.

The examination is scheduled to begin at 2 pm (local time).

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the gateway to India’s medical colleges, is taken annually by millions of candidates competing for just over 100,000 undergraduate seats.

The intense competition has fuelled a vast coaching industry and created opportunities for organised criminal networks seeking to profit from paper leaks and exam fraud.

The leak prompted a backlash from students and parents after last month’s exam was scrapped, with Indian media reporting suicides of some teenagers.

Read: Telegram loses bid to overturn India's temporary blocking of the app

India’s Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested the alleged kingpin behind the leak, identifying him as a chemistry lecturer.

The NTA said that messaging apps were used "by cheating rackets to defraud candidates" by sharing leaked questions.

Telegram head Pavel Durov said the week-long ban would not work, arguing that the "leaks just moved to other apps" and that the issue was the "insiders who leaked the exam materials".

The controversy came on top of another dispute over the online marking system used for tests taken by nearly two million high school students, with many alleging incorrect grades or results were assigned to the wrong candidates.

Public anger has also fuelled the rise of the satirical "Cockroach People's Party", which has attracted millions of followers since its launch in May and demanded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.