PGET scam: Nine debarred

Announcing this on Thursday, Medical Education Minister S A Ramdas said the nine candidates, all of whom took the test from Bellary Medical College, were debarred from appearing for counselling scheduled to begin on April 10.

The bagging of seven ranks out of the top ten, by candidates from a single centre brought forth complaints of malpractice. The results of the nine candidates were withheld following an interim report submitted by the Lokayukta into the affair. The Lokayukta report has revealed that the scoring pattern of the nine candidates was nearly similar, and they had also got wrong identical questions.

The nine candidates whose results have been withheld are Dr Sankeerth (Rank 1), Dr Shilpa, Dr Renukagurgol, Dr Patil Abhijit, Dr Vinod Kurjagi, Dr Haridattatreya Mantangi, Dr Dhananjay, Dr Firdous Sultan and Dr Bharathi. The chief examiner and the hall supervisor are also under investigation by the Bellary police.

The PGET examination has been under a cloud ever since it was held in January 30. The examination was held at 11 centres in Bangalore, and another 11 centres across the State. On the eve of the result day, a complaint on the unusual performance of the seven students was filed with the Lokayukta and the Medical Education dept.