Producer Leaks MD, MS Papers To Fund Movie Career

The CBI probe on the hi-tech mass copying racket involving Kota Gangadhar Reddy, a Tollywood producer and orthopaedist, seems to have coughed up more bizzare information regarding the motives of the accused.

Apparently, the money Gangadhar Reddy made through the scam has financed not only his movie production business, but has also funded the realization of his dream to set up a hospital in his hometown of Srikalahasthi.

Gangadhar Reddy and chief co-conspirator P. Gurivi Reddy, who is currently an MBBS student, have allegedly been involved in leaking answers to medical colleges all over the country, with Gurivi handling the financial end of the racket, and Gangadhar Reddy - using his contacts as a practicing doctor - wheedling out the answers from sources.

The widespread hustle - which had spread its tentacles as far as Patna and Chandigarh, with the two using a variety of Bluetooth enabled devices including tiny earphones, sunglasses, cellphones etc. - was brought down by the CBI on 11 November during raids conducted simultaneously in Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Patna.

Reddy and Reddy were in the process of leaking the question papers and answers to those appearing for the MD (doctor of medicine) and MS (master of surgery) entrance exams to the prestigious Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh.

16 people, all based in Andhra Pradesh, were arrested. Of them, most had appeared for the entrance test that had been conducted a day before as decoys. They were using sophisticated smartphone applications to leak the answers that had been scanned and sent to them by Gangadhar, who was in Patna.

Sources, who claim to have known Gangadhar Reddy personally, say that he was a hardworking student with a yen to become famous. Gangadhar was also known to have been bitten by the movie bug at a young age.

However, when he first started appearing in the movies in small parts, this did not go very well. Sources attribute that reason to his having gone crooked.

Gangadhar now has his own production company Kota Film Corporation, and has produced a film called Nandeeswarudu starring N T Rama Rao's grandson Tarakaratna. He is also said to have the used the money from the racket to set up a hospital in his hometown of Srikalahasthi in Chittoor district.

CBI is continuing its probe on the case to find out who were the main conspirators from whom Gangadhar had sourced his papers and answers.