Visuals from outside the National Testing Agency (NTA) office in Delhi captured a large crowd of National Students' Union of India (NSUI) workers chanting slogans such as "NTA band karo (shut down NTA)" and "NTA murdabad (down with NTA)." On Thursday, several NSUI members forcefully entered the NTA headquarters in Delhi, locking it from the inside to protest alleged irregularities in the NEET medical entrance examinations.
Protesters, equipped with chains and locks, were seen storming the NTA office located in Delhi's Okhla area. Shortly after the incident was reported, police and security forces arrived to disperse the crowd gathered at the testing agency office.
Simultaneously, the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) organized a demonstration near Jantar Mantar to protest the alleged rigging of the NEET UG exam. Numerous IYC workers congregated at Jantar Mantar, raising slogans and carrying placards.
These protests occurred amidst ongoing controversy regarding alleged irregularities and accusations of paper leaks related to the NEET-UG examination, conducted by the NTA on May 5 across 4,750 centers, with around 24 lakh candidates appearing for it. Initially scheduled for June 14, the results were announced early on June 4 due to the swift completion of answer sheet evaluations. Remarkably, 67 students achieved a perfect score of 720, an unprecedented outcome in NTA's history. Notably, six of these top scorers were from a single center in Faridabad, Haryana, leading to suspicions of irregularities. Allegations have emerged suggesting that grace marks may have contributed to the high number of top ranks.
Earlier in the day, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) made its first arrests in the NEET-UG paper leak case, detaining two individuals from Patna. According to CBI officials, the arrested suspects, identified as Manish Kumar and Ashutosh Kumar, allegedly provided safe locations for aspirants before the examination, where they were given leaked papers and answer keys.
To date, the CBI has registered six FIRs in this case, and a section of protesting students has called for a CBI investigation. The NEET-UG exam, conducted by the NTA, is a nationwide entrance test for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other related courses in government and private institutions.
