PGMET scam: Probe focus on 'Dr Gurivi Reddy'

HYDERABAD: A certain Gurivi Reddy secured 8th rank in the Post-graduate Medical Entrance Test-2014 conducted by the NTR University of Health Sciences by scoring 170 out of 180 marks. Does the name ring a bell?

Is he the same Gurivi Reddy, who had hit the headlines for leaking question papers of various entrance tests and using hitech means for copying? Raising these suspicions, Nirdala Jagadeep, an accomplice of Gurivi Reddy in the medical entrance test scam of 2012 in Chandigarh, has bagged the 12th rank in the PGMET this year.

The notorious Gurivi Reddy gang had used mobile phones with bluetooth in Eamcet-2010 and again in the PG entrance test of the prestigious Post-graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGI-MER) in Chandigarh in Nov, 2012. As recently as Feb this year, Gurivi Reddy and his men were arrested in Nandyal for allegedly leaking question papers on the eve of VRO examination.

According to the Junior Doctors' Association, question papers of PGMET printed at a press in Bengaluru were leaked and sold by miscreants for as much as `60 lakh and `One crore.

The Crime Investigation Department (CID), which has formed about 15 teams to probe the PGMET fraud following the Governor's directive, on Tuesday questioned 25 suspects including officials of the NTR University of Health Sciences.

T Ravi Raju, vice-chancellor of NTRUHS, meanwhile, assured aspirants of PG medical seats that CB-CID will complete investigation within three days.

'The Governor has ordered the CB-CID to complete the inquiry within three days. We will know about irregularities, if any, only after that. A decision will be taken on re-examination thereafter. Admission procedure will be stalled till then and aspirants need not panic,' he said.

Speaking at a press conference, Ravi Raju said various specialists, who do not know each other, prepare the questions. 'A question bank will be prepared by collecting questions from specialists and from that question bank, 200 questions will be selected for the final paper with the help of moderators.

To avoid copying, four sets of question papers are prepared by jumbling the order of questions. Question papers are printed outside AP at a private printing press,' he explained, hinting that the varsity wasn't at fault.

Commenting on registrar S Babu Lal's alleged role in the irregularities, he said said the registrar is in no way concerned with the PG medical exam and everything falls under the controller of examination and V-C's purview.