NEET Retest: Hyderabad Student Arrested for Using Hidden Phone to Cheat
An 18-year-old NEET aspirant has been detained in Hyderabad for allegedly cheating during the retest of the all-India medical entrance examination on Sunday, police said. The student's plan to smuggle a mobile phone into the exam centre was uncovered after he took an unusually long toilet break.
According to officers of the Adibatla Police Station, the student arrived at the Ragannaguda Zilla Parishad High School at 7 am, an hour after the premises had been sanitised by police. He scaled the compound wall, entered a washroom, and placed a mobile phone near a ventilator. He then returned home, freshened up, and came back to take the test.
Before the exam began, he retrieved the phone from the ventilator, placed it in a bag, and hid it inside the flush tank. A second police check around 11 am did not detect the concealed phone.
During the examination, the student complained of a stomachache and asked the invigilator for permission to use the washroom. When he did not return after five minutes, the invigilator alerted staff. They entered the washroom and found the student using the phone to search for answers online.
The student confessed to the act and was taken into custody. A case of cheating has been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and provisions of the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 have been invoked.
The NEET retest was conducted after the May 3 examination was cancelled due to an alleged paper leak. Over 20 lakh students across the country took the retest. In Hyderabad, more than 24,500 students appeared at 66 centres, with police assisting some late-arriving students to reach their venues.
The cancellation of the earlier exam and the subsequent retest have taken a toll on students' mental health, with several aspirants reportedly dying by suicide. In Hyderabad, a day before the retest, 19-year-old Sana Sheikh from Proddatur in Andhra Pradesh died by suicide. Police suspect academic pressure and the stress of the retest contributed to her death.
