NEET(UG): NTA flags 106 Telegram Channels for 1,500 'leak' tip-offs
The channels were identified through the NTA’s week-old Suspicious Claims Reporting Portal
New Delhi: Amid mounting anxiety ahead of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) (Undergraduate) on May 4, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has traced 106 Telegram channels and 16 Instagram accounts allegedly peddling false claims of question-paper leaks, senior officials said on Thursday.
The channels were identified through the NTA’s week-old Suspicious Claims Reporting Portal, which has already logged more than 1,500 tip-offs about purported leaks of the 2025 medical-entrance paper. Details of the accounts have been forwarded to the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Home Ministry for investigation and prosecution.
The NTA has also asked Telegram and Instagram to take down the groups immediately and share administrator details with law-enforcement agencies “to prevent panic among 23-plus lakh aspirants,” an official added.
The education ministry has begun statewide meetings with district magistrates and superintendents of police to plug security gaps that surfaced in 2024, when alleged paper leaks forced the cancellation of the UGC-NET and two other entrance tests. New measures for NEET-UG 2025 include: Police-escorted transport of question papers, multi-layer frisking by local police in addition to NTA security, surveillance of coaching centres to detect organised cheating rackets.
The Centre last year set up a high-level panel to ensure “transparent, smooth and fair” conduct of all NTA examinations. Investigations by the CBI into previous irregularities are still under way.
