A day after a bunch of 276 answer scripts of the third semester M.A. Sanskrit Sahitya exam of the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit was discovered as mysteriously as they had disappeared, the Kalady police on Tuesday examined them in the presence of finger print and forensic experts and confirmed that they were indeed the scripts that had gone missing.
Having registered a case of theft on July 22 on a petition by the university authorities, the police have decided to continue with their probe to piece together the events that led to the disappearance and then the re-emergence of the scripts.
“Since they are pivotal to the higher studies of the students, we will hand the answer scripts over to the university authorities on the assurance that they will be produced before the court on demand,” said P.A. Davis, Sub Inspector, Kalady. Though alerted about the discovery of the answer scripts from the exam wing on Monday, the police had sealed the room and declined to confirm that they were indeed the ones that had gone missing without examining them in the presence of scientific experts.
Meanwhile, Sangamesan K.M., a senior faculty member of the department who was suspended earlier this month after being held responsible for the loss of answer scripts, has been reinstated by the university with immediate effect. He rejoined duty on Tuesday.
“The Association of Sree Sankaracharya Sanskrit University Teachers will continue its protest demanding to unearth the conspiracy behind the whole incident and punish the guilty. It should not have happened in an academic institution,” said Prof. Sangamesan who is also the president of the association.
He had denied the accusation saying all along that the answer scripts and grade sheet were handed over to the head of the department on March 17. The department head, however, had denied receiving the answer scripts.
Vice Chancellor P.K. Dharmarajan said the university would decide its future course of action on receiving the police report.
