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PGI entrance test scam
Key accused was also held for another leak
Aneesha Sareen/TNS

Chandigarh, November 14
CBI’s investigations into the arrest of key accused Dr Kota Gangadhar Reddy in the PGI paper leak case have revealed that he was also arrested by the Hyderabad Police in the Engineering and Medical Common Entrance Test (EAMCET) paper leak case of 2010.

Gangadhar was then arrested as an active member of the gang, of which another arrested accused P Guirivi Reddy is the mastermind, CBI sources said. Both Guirivi and Gangadhar are the prime accused in the recently busted PGI paper leak case and they both also ran the EAMCET racket in 2010, said the CBI sources.

“Both Gangadhar, whom we arrested from Patna for providing answers to questions of the leaked paper for PGI exam, and Guirivi, whom we arrested on Saturday from a Sector 35-based hotel, for running the racket were arrested by the Andhra Pradesh Police for running the EAMCET racket in June 2010. The two are known to each other for quite some time,” said Mahesh Aggarwal, DIG, CBI.

Brought to the city from Patna where he was providing answers to the PGIMER MS/MD entrance examinations questions to the gang busted on Saturday, Gangadhar is a former student of the Gandhi Medical College, the CBI sources said.

“Kota Gangadhar Reddy (33) of Srikalahasti was a second year student of MS (Orthopaedics) when he was last arrested by the Hyderabad Police on June 4, 2010. He is reportedly part of the same gang that tried to indulge in cheating by sending students with bluetooth-enabled devices into the EAMCET examination centres across Andhra Pradesh. After Gangadhar and Guirivi were arrested in Hyderabad in 2010, they shifted their focus to the PGI in Chandigarh for leaking its paper for lure of easy money and adopted similar modus operandi here. They were out on bail in that earlier case," said one of the investigating officers. Gangadhar charged Rs 40 lakh per candidate.

On November 11, the CBI had busted a racket in leaking question papers and assisting students during the MD/MS examinations of the PGI here, raising several questions over the invigilation process at centres by the PGI to conduct the test. The CBI had then arrested 15 youths, including the kingpin of the racket Guirivi from Andhra Pradesh. Meanwhile, all the 15 accused arrested by the CBI on Saturday will be produced in the CBI court tomorrow.

The arrested included seven women candidates, none of whom possessed a valid MBBS degree. The CBI said these girls were planted in the examination centres to leak questions using hidden smartphones and other bluetooth devices in a bid to help other MBBS candidates who had paid hefty amounts to Guirivi.

PGI cancels MD/MS entrance exam

In a late night development, the PGI is learnt to have cancelled the entrance examination for MD/MS held on Saturday. The decision will affect more than 7,000 candidates.