• Those who sat for the exam today were children of college operators and staff

Pokhara, December 5

Seven medical students were arrested from Gandaki Medical College in Pokhara today over allegation of disrupting examination.

A police team from the Dandakonak Area Police Office made the arrests from the Gandaki Medical College building based in Rithepani, Pokhara-27, accusing the students — agitating since long seeking the return of the extra amount charged by medical colleges — who had reached the college today demanding a boycott of the MBBS exams starting today, of creating chaos. They were kept in the detention of the  Kaski District Police Office before being released in the evening.

The arrested students have been identified as Anit Sinha, 24, of Dhanusha, Bikas Reshmi Thapa, 23, of Rupandehi, Yongi Panta, 19, of Kathmandu, Ankit Sharma, 21, of Biratnagar, Saugat Pande, 20, of Syangja, Manish Aryal, 26, of Tanahun, Om Prakash Chaudhary, 19, of Rautahat and Prabin Gautam, 23, of Chitwan.

According to Sinha, who stays in the college hostel, he was arrested when he reached the police office to learn about his friends’ arrest. The police, however, accused students of misbehaving with them.

“I was outside the college, and there was some exchange of words between police and students while the first, third and fourth year students were exiting the exam hall boycotting the exam. As the exchange of words grew heated, I, as a senior student, went to learn about the situation. It was then that police arrested me,” he said.

Meanwhile, police freed all the arrested students in the evening.

Out of 100 students, only 19 took today’s exam, and according to the agitating students, those who sat for the exam today were the children of the college operators and staff. College principal Dr Rabindra Prasad Shrestha’s son is among those who attended today’s exam.

While one of the students who boycotted the exam said he had boycotted the exam as it was held in violation of the exam codes. “I boycotted the exam as it was conducted by going out of the exam code and leaking the question paper well before the exam by taking advantage of the ongoing agitation at the college,” said the student.

College Principal Shrestha, however, ruled out the charge of irregularities, saying the exam was held in the presence of the Institute of Medicine representatives and it couldn’t in any way be against the exam codes. He admitted that his son had participated in today’s exam.

Police, in March this year, had filed a fraud case against nine persons including Gandaki Medical College Chairperson Khuma Aryal in District Court of Kaski acting on the complaint of students of the college. Police had arrested then CEO of the college Santosh Khanal and exam coordinator Laxman Sharma and seven other persons had presented them directly at the court later.

They all had later been freed after they paid 1.7 million rupees in bail each. The case, however, is still sub-judice.

According to students, the college has overcharged up to 1.5 million rupees from students pursuing MBBS at the college. The government had fixed 4.2 million rupees in fees for students wishing to pursue MBBS degree in medical colleges outside Kathmandu valley.