Jaipur, March 25 The Rajasthan Police has busted an alleged racket involved in issuing fake Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) certificates and arrested 18 people, including the former registrar of the state medical council, officials said on Wednesday.
Additional Director General of Police (DIG) (Special Operations Group) Vishal Bansal said the action was initiated after a complaint was lodged regarding forged certificates, following which a preliminary inquiry was conducted and a case was registered.
During the investigation, an accused, Piyush Trivedi, was found doing an internship in the Karauli district by submitting a forged certificate. He was arrested and during interrogation he revealed the role of others, identified as Devendra, Shubham and Bhanaram, who were also arrested.
Further investigation indicated the involvement of an organised racket facilitating illegal internships and registrations with the Rajasthan Medical Council (RMC) using forged FMGE certificates, with alleged collusion of officials, police said.
A separate case was registered in this connection.
So far, more than 90 such doctors have been identified who allegedly obtained internship and registration through forged documents.
Officials said that in a coordinated operation, more than 21 teams conducted simultaneous raids across multiple locations, including Delhi, Jaipur, Udaipur and Jodhpur, and in districts including Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Dholpur, Kotputli, Alwar and Karauli.
Among those arrested are former RMC registrar Dr Rajesh Sharma and former nodal officer Akhilesh Mathur, police said.
Investigators also found that an accused, Dr Yash Purohit, had been working at a private hospital in Udaipur using forged documents, which officials termed a "serious criminal offence".
Preliminary findings suggest that officials and middlemen allegedly charged Rs 20-25 lakh per candidate to facilitate fake internship and registration certificates. Among the total amount charged, Rs 11 lakh per candidate was allegedly going to RMC officials and the remaining amount distributed among intermediaries.
The investigation is ongoing, and efforts are underway to identify and arrest other accused involved in the racket, police added.