NEET-UG 2026 aspirant Abdullah Mohammad Talib, whose examination centre was initially shown in Abu Dhabi, reached his newly allotted examination centre in Nagpur on Sunday after the National Testing Agency (NTA) resolved the issue and shifted his centre to the city.
Following the controversy, NTA allotted Abdullah a new examination centre at PM SHRI Kendriya Vidyalaya, Ajni, Nagpur, enabling him to appear for the medical entrance examination without having to travel abroad. The matter had triggered concern after the Nagpur-based student was assigned a centre in Abu Dhabi despite his family insisting they had never opted for an overseas examination city.
Speaking to ANI outside the examination centre, Abdullah’s father, Mohammad Talib, said the family had faced immense mental stress over the issue. “It was with great difficulty that we convinced Abdullah to appear for the examination. He has been unwell and could not revise properly. Right now, he is only about 50 percent confident, but we believe he will settle down once he starts writing the paper,” he said.
Questioning how Abu Dhabi could have been selected, Talib maintained that neither he nor his family had made such a request. “We never chose Abu Dhabi. We have no relatives there, we do not even possess passports, and we certainly do not have the financial means to travel abroad.
Abdullah has appeared for examinations in Nagpur before, so there was absolutely no reason for us to select Abu Dhabi as an examination city,” he said.
Talib further alleged that someone may have tampered with the process and demanded that the truth be established. “I am not saying the NTA’s version is wrong, but this was not done from our side. Someone has played a mischief. We need to identify the culprit because this incident has brought a bad name to both the NTA and our family,” he added.
The NTA had earlier stated that its records showed the city change was made through the candidate’s registered login during the correction window.
However, after receiving a request from the family, the agency processed the matter and allotted Abdullah a centre in Nagpur ahead of the examination.
Abdullah subsequently reported to the centre and appeared for the NEET-UG 2026 examination.
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