By IANS
Lucknow : The Uttar Pradesh government Saturday sounded an alert to contain widespread violence across the state a day after it had ordered a probe into alleged irregularities in the results of medical entrance exams.
On Friday, students went on a rampage in different parts of the state after Chief Minister Mayawati appointed a two-member panel to go into the alleged bungling in the Combined Pre-Medical Test (CPMT) and also ordered withholding of the exam results.
Partly satisfied with the announcement, the agitating students persisted with their demand for punitive action, particularly against K.P. Singh, the vice chancellor of Poorvanchal University that conducted the examination.
They wondered why the vice chancellor had done away with the practice of also posting the answer sheets of unsuccessful candidates on the Internet.
Medical Education Minister Lalji Verma too tried to pacify the youth, saying that the two-member panel comprising the department's special secretary and director general of medical education would submit its report within 72 hours.
The government was also likely to direct the vice chancellor to concede the candidates' demand for allowing them access to their answer-sheets.
Interestingly, some of the 'top ranked' students, who turned out to be average, had gone on record to confess that they had never expected to clear the examination.
Rajiv Kumar, an unsuccessful candidate, was in the forefront of a delegation that called on Verma to raise their issue.
"We are glad that the government has given the inquiry panel a timeframe of just three days to submit its report. Sure enough, the guilty would not only get exposed but will also be punished," he said.
"I got the 900th rank in the CPMT in 2006 and was quite confident of securing a better position this time. But to my utter shock I have not been successful though I knew I had performed much better."
Rajiv denied being a part of the mob that took to violence on the streets on Friday evening. However, a group of unsuccessful candidates torched a city bus, injuring two children, Home Secretary Javeed Ahmad told reporters here.
While Kanpur and Lucknow witnessed the worst violence, demonstrations were staged in Allahabad, Meerut and Varanasi as well.
Angry youth attacked a railway cabin in Kanpur while vehicles were attacked in other places.
"Though things were under control today we are not taking any chances and we have sounded a statewide alert," Ahmad said.