Monday, February 28, 2005 (Ballia):
Saurabh Singh, the 17-year-old who hit the headlines twice over the last month, continues to claim his teacher V K Bansal had taken him to London to write the so-called International Scientist discovery test of US Space and Aeronautical agency NASA.
He hit the headlines first for topping the examination and then when NASA denied it has such a test.
Saurabh's family is upset and saddened after the teenage boy's claim of clearing a NASA international science discovery exam was proved to be false.
"We are very upset with what has happened. We didn't want this limelight. Because of him we came under the limelight and because of him we are now embarrassed," said Saurabh's uncle Chandrashekhar Singh.
Saurabh has been maintaining that a teacher from Kota, V K Bansal, was the one who took him to London to write the exam.
Teacher claims innocence
But V K Bansal, who heads one of the most successful IIT institutes in Kota, hasn't ever been to London himself.
Bansal says he doesn't even know Saurabh.
"All the allegations he had made against me are false. I don't even know the boy," said V K Bansal, who heads Bansal Classes, a coaching institute.
But despite Saurabh's story now falling flat, he and his family still insist that Bansal is responsible for the mess.
"We don't know what to say. It's because of Mr Bansal that he went to Kota. Now this has happened," said Saurabh's aunt Manorama Singh.
"Mr Bansal prepared me. He said the government was paying for this," said Saurabh Singh, student.
Web of lies
The fact that the boy may be lying is obvious from all the questions that have surfaced ever since this hoax came to light. For instance:
How did the Ballia police issue him a passport without verification?
Why did the Kota coaching centre keep his passport?
Why did the Indian government provide him with money to travel to London?
How did he manage to stay at the Buckhingham palace?
How come the NASA exam certificate was given to him in a tea party?
Which British journalist told him his rank in the exam was better than that of President Kalam and Kalpana Chawla's?
From being hailed a hero to being branded a fraud, it's been a tremendous fall for this student whose misplaced ingenuity has backfired so badly
