The Central Board of Secondary Education on Tuesday denied that personal details of over two lakh students who appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test this year had been leaked. The board, in a press release, said that the allegation seemed to be the “handiwork of certain unscrupulous persons with the objective of duping the public”.

Media reports had said that buyers were willing to pay up to Rs 2 lakh for the candidates’ data.

The CBSE said that the data of all 13 lakh candidates had been maintained in an encrypted format, with the National Informatics Centre, with “strict security measures” in place. “Even when the CBSE obtains data from the centre for allotment of roll numbers and [announcing] results, it does not contain personal details such as mobile numbers, details of identification documents or email IDs,” the board said.

The CBSE added that after the declaration of NEET results this year, the data was given to the Directorate General Health Services of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in order to forward it to states and counselling authorities. The board said the data was shared with states in a “highly secured format” and was password protected.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi had on July 20 written to CBSE Chairperson Anita Karwal, saying he was “shocked by this wide scale theft of personal data that has compromised the privacy of candidates across the country”. Gandhi demanded an inquiry into the alleged leak.

The NEET exam was conducted on May 7, and results declared on June 4.