Karnataka NEET Aspirant Alleges Rigged OMR Sheet After Re-Exam

Bindushree Pawar, a NEET aspirant from Hangal in Haveri district, sat for the re-examination on June 21 expecting a shot at a medical seat after the original test was cancelled over a paper leak. When the National Testing Agency released results on July 16, the scorecard said she had attempted only 41 of the 180 questions, all of them bubbled in a single minute between 1:56 pm and 1:57 pm, yielding a total of 11 marks (Indian Express).

Pawar told indianexpress.com she had actually attempted 165 questions. Based on the provisional answer key, she calculated her score should have been 668 marks, a figure consistent with the 680 she had secured in the cancelled examination (Indian Express). Her father, Jagadeesh Pawar, said the family was stunned by the discrepancy. “It is nothing but a scam,” he said, adding that his daughter had spent two years preparing and that recent reports of student suicides had left him fearful for her wellbeing (Indian Express).

The anomalies extend beyond the attempt count. Pawar said the entry and exit times logged at the centre were incorrect, the bubbling pattern on the scanned OMR sheet did not match her own, and the fingerprint impression appeared overlapped (Indian Express). She said she had emailed the NTA three times and called its helpline without receiving a response (Indian Express).

After the results were declared, the family approached P S Raju, principal of the Kendriya Vidyalaya in Haveri and the NTA’s nodal officer for the centre. Raju confirmed he had verified the centre’s records and found the signature on the attendance sheet matched, but acknowledged Pawar’s allegation that it had been rigged. He said the candidate would receive a direct response from the agency (Indian Express).

District Additional Deputy Commissioner L Nagaraj said a review of CCTV footage from the examination centre showed Pawar had remained inside the hall for the full three-hour duration of the test. Nagaraj said his office had written to the NTA’s grievance cell and was awaiting a reply (Indian Express).

The NTA has not yet issued a public statement on the specific allegations. The re-examination itself was ordered after the original NEET-UG 2024 paper was leaked, triggering widespread protests and a Supreme Court-monitored investigation. Pawar’s case adds to the scrutiny over the integrity of the re-test process, though the agency’s final response remains pending.