A youth was arrested in Rajasthan's Bhilwara for selling fake NEET-UG re-exam papers on Telegram using a VPN. He has been sent to police custody. The Delhi High Court also upheld the Centre's temporary ban on the messaging app over exam fraud.
A youth has been arrested in Bhilwara for allegedly selling fake question papers through a Telegram ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled to take place on June 21, a senior police officer said on Friday. The arrest came amid the Centre's restrictions on Telegram over the NEET-UG re-examination. The accused, identified as Akash Chaudhary, was operating the Telegram channel by allegedly using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to conceal his identity.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Bilwara, Nemi Chand Chaudhary, told ANI that the accused was presented in court today, which sent him to police custody untill June 22. "The NEET exam, which will be held on June 21, a boy named Akash Chaudhary from Patel Nagar created a fake paper, and some people have been found selling it. He was arrested by the Pratap Nagar police station, a case has been registered against him, and the investigation is being conducted. He was presented in court today which sent him to police custody until the 22nd. In addition, we will investigate all those involved. Fifty-four members have subscribed to his Telegram group... A thorough investigation will be conducted into this," DSP Chaudhary said.
"Through the VPN app, he was able to open (Telegram), " he said when asked about the temporary ban on Telegram.
Delhi High Court Upholds Telegram Ban
Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court on Friday upheld the Centre's decision to temporarily block Telegram ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination , observing that the platform's architecture enables rapid amplification of unlawful content and that narrower measures had failed to curb misuse linked to examination fraud.
Court Cites Platform's Architecture
Dismissing a petition filed by Telegram FZ LLC, Justice Tejas Karia held that Telegram's technical features, including large public channels, cloud-based storage, extensive bot ecosystems, username-based operations, mirror channels and message-editing capabilities, made it particularly susceptible to misuse for spreading misinformation and facilitating fraud.
Concerns Over Message-Editing Feature
The Court observed that even when specific channels are removed, Telegram's architecture allows rapid creation of mirror channels and migration of subscribers, enabling unlawful activities to resume almost immediately. It further noted that the platform's message-editing feature could be misused to create a false impression that examination papers were leaked before an exam, thereby misleading students and the public. (ANI)
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