Four MBBS candidates tampered with answer booklets

A teacher correcting the answer script of an MBBS student, originally of the 1996-97 batch, was baffled. After failing to clear the exam till now, the candidate finally resorted to malpractice, a glaring one at that.

The student had not only copied every single word from a textbook, but also the punctuation marks. Moreover, investigation revealed a clear difference in handwriting in the internal assessment answer sheet and the university exam answer booklet.

The incident came to light in May when some candidates' answer scripts were sent for revaluation. The exam was conducted in January. Suspicious over the way the answers were worded, the valuator informed his principal, who lodged complaint with Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences. The principal also sent documentary evidence for the doubts.

The university found the answer script came from a medical college
in Kolar. RGUHS confiscated the IA answer sheets in all subjects of the entire batch, suspecting there could be more than one such case. "When we went through the answer scripts we could clearly make out they were tampered with. We have found three more students tampered with the answer scripts," RGUHS registrar S Vasantha Kumar said.

The university constituted a fact-finding committee headed by MVJ Medical College dean Dr Rajeshwari. The panel submitted its report in the last week of May, concluding that there is prima facie evidence indicating malpractice. The report was placed before the syndicate in June, where it was resolved that criminal cases will be filed against the candidates.