Main accused at minister's home?

Himalayan News Service

KATHMANDU: A police source today said Dr Prabhat Kumar Kuswaha, accused of operating a racket that sold MBBS question paper hours before exam, was hiding in Health Minister Umakanta Chaudhary’s home, hampering efforts to arrest him.

Three MBBS entrants had confessed to cops that they had paid Rs 3 million to Dr Kuswaha and Prajjwal KC, kingpins of the racket, to acquire the question paper ahead of the exam held by the Institute of Medicine, Maharajgunj, on Saturday.

The source said he had information that KC fled the capital a few hours after the police raided a house in Maitidevi where the aspirants were sold a question paper of MBBS entrance test .

The source told THT that police had intelligence tip-off that KC, who hails from Morang, fled Kathmandu to evade arrest, while Dr Kuswaha had been sheltering at ministers’ quarters in Lalitpur and health minister was protecting him.

Another source said Dr Kuswaha, who is from Bara, had close ties with Health Minister Umakanta Chaudhary and former education minister Ram Chandra Kuswaha, but refused to divulge anything more.

Nepal Police sources say Dr Kuswaha and KC are on their watchlist and would be tracked sooner or later.

It is learnt that they had been operating the racket for two years.

Meanwhile, Dhirendra Chaudhary, personal assistant of health minister, said Dr Kuswaha had not shown up in the minister’s quarter for the past couple of months.

“He used to frequently come to the minister’s quarter and meet Chaudhary. But I don’t know anything about their relationship,” said Dhirendra.

”My close acquaintances often portrayed Dr Kuswaha as a fraud,” he claimed.

Student unions have urged the police to establish the truth and take action against the guilty.