The Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Rajasthan Police has arrested four more foreign-trained medical graduates in its investigation into forged Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) certificates, taking the total number of arrests in the case to 33, according to PTI and Medical Dialogues.

The four accused, from Deeg and Bharatpur districts, were identified by police as Bharat Bhushan, Shivam Chaudhary, Saurav Sharma and Himanshu Sharma. ETV Bharat reported that SOG Additional Director General Vishal Bansal briefed reporters on the arrests on 15 October.

How the alleged scheme worked

According to police, each of the four obtained an MBBS degree from a university in Kyrgyzstan, Russia or Kazakhstan but did not pass the FMGE, the screening test that graduates of foreign medical schools must clear before they can practise in India. Investigators allege that they then bought forged FMGE pass certificates through brokers.

Police say the documents were used to obtain internships at government medical colleges in Dausa, Dholpur, Jaipur and Alwar, and to apply for registration with the Rajasthan Medical Council (RMC). The accused allegedly paid between Rs 27 lakh and Rs 30 lakh each. PTI reported that the racket supplied forged certificates for Rs 20 lakh to Rs 30 lakh apiece.

Scale of the investigation

Of the 33 people arrested so far, 28 are foreign-trained medical graduates. Medical Dialogues reported that the others include a former RMC registrar, two council clerks, an alleged kingpin and a broker. Investigators say they have identified more than 100 suspected beneficiaries, and the probe into possible involvement of council staff is continuing. All of those arrested are accused; none has been convicted.

A forged screening certificate can carry an unqualified graduate into hospital wards as an intern and onto a state medical register, where the public assumes a licence has been properly checked. The case shows how a single fake document, if accepted without verification at the source, can open the way to clinical work.

Checking a foreign medical graduate's status

FMGE results are issued by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences, and pass status can be confirmed with the board rather than relying on a paper certificate. Hospitals and medical colleges taking interns can ask state medical councils to confirm that registration rests on a verified FMGE result, and patients can check a doctor's registration on the National Medical Commission's register.

Sources

This News Desk report summarises information published by the sources above, written in our own words. Persons named in criminal matters are accused, not convicted, unless a court has ruled otherwise. To report an error, use our contact page.

FMGERajasthan SOGRajasthan Medical CouncilForged certificatesForeign medical graduates

More from the News Desk