Prime accused in the PGET scam surrenders in Bellary

Vinayaka Prasanna, the main accused in the post-graduate entrance test (PGET) scam, surrendered before JMFC, Bellary, on Wednesday.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) police, who are probing the case, have secured Prasanna’s custody for 11 days. The CID police said that it was interrogating Prasanna to know the magnitude of the scam.

Prasanna, an assistant professor with Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS), Bellary, had on October 21 obtained anticipatory bail from the Dharwad bench of the Karnataka high court.

He is allegedly involved in the fraud that helped many candidates secure ranks in PGET for allotment of post-graduate medical seats conducted by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS).

Prasanna is also accused of committing the fraud in the 2009 and 2010 editions of PGET. The CID has said that it will investigate the scam in these years.

Prasanna had close contacts with several persons in the examination wing of RGUHS, who assisted him in committing fraud.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) police had on October 23 arrested 17 persons, including nine alleged beneficiaries, in connection with the fraud.

The case was detected based on digital evidences. Two more alleged beneficiaries are yet to be arrested.

The accused persons were produced before the JMFC, Bellary, which remanded them to judicial custody.

Following unearthing of the scam, the state government had decided to hold the 2012 PGET examination only in Bangalore.

The examination was earlier being held in eight centres across the state.

Medical education minister SA Ramdas announced that the entire examination process would be conducted under CCTV surveillance.

The Bellary-based VIMS has suspended three doctors — Dr DK Bharathi, Dr Firdosa Sultana and Dhananjaya — for their alleged involvement in the malpractice of 2011 PGET examination.