CHANDIGARH, 23 JUNE

 An exam centre in Chandigarh where all arrangements had been made, including the deployment of police and invigilators, for two students to take their NEET-UG retest on Sunday shut the gates after neither turned up. An official at St Joseph's Senior Secondary School in Chandigarh's Sector-44 said the gates were to be closed at 1:30 pm. After neither student turned up for the retest, the authorities shut the gates

The re-exam was held from 2 pm to 5:20 pm. The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted a retest for 1,563 students awarded grace marks in the Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) to make up for time loss at six centres. As many as 67 students scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA's history, with six from a centre in Haryana's Faridabad figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities. The official said necessary arrangements were put in place for the re-exam. Chandigarh Police personnel were also deployed.

NEET-UG is conducted for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions. This year, the exam was held on May 5, with around 24 lakh candidates appearing for it. The results were announced on June 4. Since then, there have been allegations of question paper leaks in states such as Bihar and other irregularities. The allegations have led to protests in several cities and filing of petitions in various high courts as well as the Supreme Court.

Facing flak over the alleged discrepancies in the exam, the Centre on Saturday shunted out NTA Director General Subodh Singh and handed over the probe into the irregularities to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The Union education ministry also set up a seven-member panel to review the agency's functioning and recommend exam reforms. The CBI has filed an FIR in connection with the alleged irregularities, officials said on Sunday.