BENGALURU: The Consortium of Medical, Engineering, Dental Colleges of Karnataka (ComedK), which holds the ComedK UG Entrance Test (UGET), has barred 36 students from participating in the counselling process over suspicions of malpractice.ComedK UGET, which holds the key to 32,670 engineering seats in Karnataka’s private engineering colleges, was held on May 9 at 400 centres in 280 cities. Around 1,10,774 (36,954 Karnataka and 73,820 non-Karnataka) candidates appeared for the computer-based test conducted in two sessions. Percentile scores of the candidates were considered for announcing the rankings.When the results were announced on May 29, not a single Karnataka student featured in the Top 10 list. Five toppers of the first six ranks were from Jamshedpur. Rank 3 was from Uttarakhand. Rank 7 was from Andhra Pradesh, rank 8 from Chhattisgarh, rank 9 from Punjab and rank 10 from Bihar. When asked about the concentration of toppers from one state, Kumar told TOI the team will check the CCTV footage and video recordings to check the veracity.The students, who are suspected, appeared for the exam at three centres — Jai Sri Infotech, Govinda Vidyalaya and Creative Computers — in Jamshedpur. Most of those under suspicion are within the rank of 500, with four of them in the Top 10. ComedK individually notified each of the identified candidates and has provided them an opportunity to appear before ComedK authorities in Bengaluru on or before July 10, 2026.Candidates will be allowed to inspect the material establishing their involvement and present their explanation before any final decision is taken regarding cancellation or debarment. These candidates will not be permitted to participate in the ongoing counselling and seat-selection process until the enquiry is completed.As per ComedK officials, these students are suspected to have received external help for exams, which was provided through the invigilators, who have also been served notices by ComedK.ComedK officials said that as part of its established protocol, it undertook a comprehensive academic, administrative and forensic audit immediately after the completion of the examination and publication of final results. During this audit, certain anomalies were detected at the Jamshedpur centres.“There are six criteria that we check for in the academic and administrative audit. For instance, how do students behave in the first 30 minutes and last 30 minutes of the exam? The exam is a three-hour paper of 180 questions. We expect students to take less than a minute with each question. There are instances where we have found that the students were not so active in the beginning, but completed 80-90 questions in the last half an hour. We watched CCTV frame-by-frame visuals of these students closely and have found enough evidence of malpractice. These pieces of evidence will be presented to students when they present their explanation,” said S Kumar, secretary, ComedK.“Similarly, we have our academic audits: We check on the quality of the question paper, use processes like item analysis, distractor index and check on students answering stray questions. We also checked the class 12 marks whether it matches the capabilities of the students as per their performance in the ComedK exam. We have been doing it since 2006,” he said.“Subsequent detailed verification, carried out with the assistance of ComedK’s examination service providers and technical partners, has yielded credible and conclusive evidence indicating the involvement of certain candidates and personnel in acts amounting to examination malpractice.”Kumar said a police complaint will be lodged once the students are allowed to present their arguments on July 10. “ComedK has formally apprised the admission overseeing committee (AOC) of these developments, ensuring that the statutory oversight body remains fully informed of the steps being taken to preserve the integrity of the admission process. All actions initiated are strictly in accordance with the ComedK UGET-2026 Information Brochure and Counselling Handbook, which empower ComedK to cancel candidature, debar candidates from future examinations and take other necessary measures when malpractice is detected,” said Dr Kumar.
