Telegram restricted in India ahead of NEET 2026 re-exam, 1500 students allegedly duped of Rs 1.5 crore

New Delhi: Ahead of the NEET UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21, Telegram has been temporarily banned in India in the wake of cheating rackets duping aspirants.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has welcomed the central government's decision to impose temporary restrictions on the Telegram platform.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has directed that access to Telegram be restricted in India until June 22, covering the examination day and its immediate aftermath. In addition, Telegram has been instructed to disable its message-editing feature in India until June 30, addressing the specific structural feature through which the platform has been used to fabricate after-the-event “paper leak” evidence in respect of national examinations.

The measures have been taken in response to several Telegram channels that were allegedly being used by cheating rackets to spread false claims about leaked NEET question papers and to defraud students and their families.

"NTA expresses its gratitude to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for this timely action, in the interest of students, which will go a long way in helping NTA to be able to conduct safe and secure examinations on 21st June 2026," NTA mentioned in the press release issued on June 16, 2026.

NTA said that despite continuous efforts by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), under the Ministry of Home Affairs, state police agencies, including the police forces of Bihar, Gujarat and Rajasthan, and MeitY, to remove fraudulent channels, the misuse of the platform continued. The agency described the latest measures as a "last resort" taken to protect the integrity of the examination.

"Throughout the period leading up to the present action, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has served as the principal nodal agency coordinating the operational response to the Telegram-based fraud and misinformation targeting NEET (UG) 2026 candidates. Acting on inputs received continuously from NTA, from State law-enforcement agencies including the police forces of Bihar, Gujarat and Rajasthan, and from its own continuous monitoring of public channels and platforms, I4C has secured the prompt take-down of a substantial number of Telegram channels, groups and bots whose names and content openly advertised their fraudulent and misleading purpose. This was done with active support of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. NTA places on record that the intelligence-sharing and coordinated take-down action led by the Ministry of Home Affairs, through I4C, and MeitY has been continuous, prompt and substantive, and remains the operational backbone of the response. This sustained inter-agency effort, well in advance of the present platform-level action, is the reason the harm caused by these rackets has been contained to the extent it has," the NTA stated.

Over the preceding weeks, NTA stated that several channels operating openly on the platform under names that themselves advertised their purpose, "PAPER LEAKED NEET", "Re-NEET 2026", "Private Mafia", "REE NEET MAFIAA", and similar formulations were reportedly demanding money from students by falsely claiming to provide access to the examination paper.

In response, NTA reiterated that no question paper is available outside the secure examination process and that all such claims are fraudulent.

The agency, in its press released stated that one reason for asking Telegram to temporarily disable its message-editing feature is to stop the creation of fake "paper leak" evidence.

According to NTA, some Telegram channel administrators were misusing the feature by editing old messages after an examination had already taken place. They would replace the original content with the actual question paper while keeping the old timestamp, making it appear as if the paper had been shared before the exam.

"This capability has been used, in respect of multiple recent examinations, to fabricate after-the-event “paper leak” artefacts: a channel administrator edits an older, innocuous message to insert the actual question paper after the examination has been conducted, and the resulting chat is then circulated as purported “evidence” that the paper was in circulation before the examination. The MeitY direction closes this avenue of fabrication for the post-examination window in which such artefacts have historically been deployed," the agency mentioned.

It also pointed to recent actions by law enforcement agencies as evidence of the seriousness of the problem. The Bihar Police Economic Offences Unit issued a formal public advisory on 9 June 2026, warning candidates against fraudulent claims of pre-examination access to the paper circulated through Telegram and other platforms.

In another case, the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch arrested members of an inter-state gang that allegedly operated eight Telegram channels to carry out similar scams. The gang is accused of collecting around Rs 1.5 crore from victims and contacting nearly 1,000 mobile numbers in a single month. Investigations are continuing in several other states.

At the same time, NTA acknowledged that the access restriction issued by MeitY will affect lakhs of citizens who use the Telegram platform for legitimate personal, educational, professional and informational purposes, and sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to them.

"The access restriction is, by its express terms, confined to the period ending 22 June 2026 - i.e. the day after the examination. The feature-specific direction in respect of the message-editing function, which remains in force through 30 June 2026, does not affect ordinary use of the platform for sending or receiving new messages," NTA added.

The NTA reassured candidates and parents that the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination will be held as scheduled on 21 June 2026 and that the security of the examination has not been compromised.

"Every candidate and parent is reassured of NTA’s commitment to conducting a fair, secure and credible examination. Candidates are urged to focus on their preparation, to disregard unverified content circulating on any platform, and to rely exclusively on the NTA website (http://neet.nta.nic.in) and verified NTA handles for all examination-related updates," the agency said.

The agency also urged people to report any suspicious offers or claims relating to exam papers. Such incidents can be reported through the National Cyber Crime Helpline (1930), the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.

"NTA places on record its sincere appreciation of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for the timely and calibrated directions issued, of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre for the sustained operational coordination that has made today’s action possible, of the Central Bureau of Investigation for its parallel inquiry into the underlying offences, and of the police forces of Bihar, Gujarat, Rajasthan and other States for their independent enforcement action - each of which has contributed, in its own measure, to protecting the integrity of one of the country’s most consequential examinations and the interests of its candidates," NTA mentioned in the press release.

Two Rajasthani fraudsters exposed

The recent arrest of two Rajasthan-based men by the Cyber Crime Cell has exposed a large online fraud network that allegedly targeted students and parents with false promises of access to RE-NEET examination papers.

The accused were arrested following an investigation into complaints that students were being misled through Telegram channels claiming to provide leaked question papers and confidential examination-related information.

According to police, the duo allegedly operated nearly eight Telegram channels and used them to attract students by posting sensational claims about examination leaks and insider information. Victims were then asked to transfer money through online payment platforms in exchange for the promised material.

As per a latest media report by Ahmedabad Mirror, the investigators found that over 1,500 students or their kin were cheated of Rs 1.5 crore. More arrests are likely in the case.

During the investigation, police found that the accused operated Telegram channels.

Investigators further found that the accused artificially inflated the number of channel members and premium subscribers using third-party applications and services. These inflated statistics were allegedly used to attract victims.

Apart from this, the accused were allegedly involved in investment-related scams through Telegram and were linked to multiple complaints registered across different states.

Investigators believe the fraudulently obtained money was routed through gaming website accounts and multiple bank accounts to conceal the source of the funds. The money was subsequently transferred through various accounts and withdrawn using associates’ bank accounts for personal gain. According to investigators, transactions worth nearly Rs 1.5 crore passed through the accused persons’ bank accounts.

Analysis of seized digital evidence showed that nearly 1,000 mobile numbers and Telegram accounts had been contacted within the past month. Investigators also identified around 44 websites allegedly connected to gaming, betting, gambling and other cyber fraud activities.

This comes amid the NEET UG 2026 controversy, in which the examination was conducted on May 3 by the National Testing Agency from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM in pen-and-paper mode. Over 22.7 lakh aspirants appeared for the examination this year. It took place across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad, covering over 5,400 centres.

However, on May 12, 2026, the NTA declared the examination held on May 3 cancelled and subsequently announced a re-examination on June 21, 2026.

This came in the backdrop of the probe by the Rajasthan Police Special Operations Group, which reportedly found a “guess paper” containing more than 100 questions similar to those asked in the NEET UG examination. The question paper series under scrutiny has been described as a “guess paper” which reportedly contained around 410 questions. Out of these, nearly 120 questions are alleged to have appeared in the Biology and Chemistry sections of the examination.

In the aftermath of the exam cancellation, protests were held, with aspirants and members of the medical fraternity blaming NTA and the Education Ministry for the failure.

Due to the alleged controversy, the central government decided to refer the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation for a comprehensive inquiry into the allegations. Based on the centre's direction, the CBI registered an FIR in the case and has so far arrested 13 people.

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