IAF helicopters, CRPF and CISF deployed as NTA holds security drill ahead of NEET-UG re-exam

New Delhi: The National Testing Agency (NTA) ran a mock security drill on Saturday to test arrangements for Sunday’s NEET-UG re-examination, deploying Indian Air Force helicopters and central paramilitary personnel in a tightened security plan that follows the paper-leak controversy which forced the cancellation of the original test.

Mi-17 helicopters will airlift question papers to 18 nodal centres located in state capitals. Custody of the papers then passes to the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which will guard them until the examination concludes. The same routine was rehearsed during Saturday’s drill, which began around 1.30pm; media personnel were kept out of the venues during the exercise.

In Delhi, the re-test will be held across 97 centres, including every Kendriya Vidyalaya in the capital and a number of Delhi government schools.

Nationwide, the re-examination is scheduled for 2pm to 5.15pm on June 21, with candidates eligible for compensatory time under the persons with disabilities (PwD) category permitted to continue writing until 6.20pm. More than 22.79 lakh candidates are expected to appear across 551 cities in India and 14 cities overseas, according to the agency.

The NTA said it has mobilized more than two lakh personnel for the exercise, including 674 city coordinators and 6,669 observers tasked with independently monitoring centres, alongside centre superintendents, invigilators, district officials and police escort teams. Question papers and other confidential material will move under sealed protocols in GPS-enabled vehicles with police escorts, while every centre will remain under CCTV surveillance linked to central control rooms. Candidates will undergo Aadhaar-based biometric verification and frisking through metal detectors before entry.

Background: A leak and a court battle

The re-test follows the cancellation of the original NEET-UG 2026 examination, held on May 3, after allegations surfaced of question paper irregularities. The episode also triggered a parallel legal fight over Telegram, which the government blocked nationwide after the NTA said it had identified channels on the platform allegedly selling fabricated question papers and running impersonation scams targeting aspirants.

Telegram challenged the order before the Delhi high court, arguing the ban was disproportionate and that the government had not adequately communicated its reasons. The court disagreed. Justice Tejas Karia, delivering the verdict on Friday, June 19, held that the ministry of electronics and information technology had followed due procedure under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and that targeted takedowns would have been ineffective given the platform’s architecture, including its bot networks, cloud storage and anonymous channels. The access restriction stays in force until June 22, a day after the re-exam, while a separate order disabling Telegram’s message-editing feature – used in the past to alter messages after exams to fabricate leak evidence – remains till June 30.

The NTA has also opened a dedicated portal for candidates and members of the public to report suspected irregularities, rumours or attempts to spread misinformation about the exam, which the agency said would be examined as part of its effort to protect the integrity of the process.