The irregularities surrounding the MBBS entrance examination of the Institute of Medicine (IoM) have left admission of students for this year’s undergraduate medicine programme under uncertainty. 

Police investigations suggested that the questions of the MBBS entrance examination conducted by the Tribhuvan University’s Institute of Medicine were leaked. The questions matched the answers that were jotted down by the fake MBBS examinees and the kingpin of the racket that charged students promising help during the test.

On Sunday, the Metropolitan Police Range, Teku, wrote to the IoM, pointing at the possibility of leakage of the entrance questions. Apart from similar answers circulated through digital means, police traced the phone calls between the device users while taking the entrance exam.

This has left the IoM in dilemma whether to conduct a re-examination or go ahead with its previous entrance.  

“We will do as instructed by the TU probe committee,” said IoM Dean Dr Jagdish Agrawal.

Following the arrests of more than 15 persons during the IoM entrance test, the TU had formed a five-member probe committee led by Dr Chintamani Pokhrel of the TU Department of Humanities and Social Sciences to investigate the matter. The committee is yet to submit its findings and the prolonged study has hit the IoM’s academic calendar.

“We will submit the report in three days,” said Dr Pokhrel, without giving details. Dr Mahesh Khakurel, former director of the TU Teaching Hospital and Bishnu Khanal, chief of Monitoring and Evaluation Unit of TU are the members of the committee.

The TU’s academic calendar  begins on November 17, but the IoM and its affiliate medical colleges will not be able to start MBBS classes from the usual date, as officials said they would need a window of at least 45 days after the results for students’ placements.

The delay in bringing out the entrance results will also impact all the medical colleges affiliated to the Tribhuvan University. Only the students who pass the entrance test are eligible to apply for private medical colleges affiliated to the IoM.

The controversy on the entrance test surfaced after over 15 persons were arrested who had been using wireless devices to cheat. A team led by Samir Kumar Jha, who is currently in police custody, had introduced sophisticated communication devices that can be easily hidden by examinees.

Investigations found that the students had paid as much as Rs500,000 to the fraudsters who had promised successful results. Police have filed a case under “organised crime”.