Fake Certificate Racket in Uttarakhand Medical Admissions: Two More Arrested, Six MBBS Seats Cancelled
A Special Investigation Team probing forged domicile and freedom-fighter-descendant certificates used to secure MBBS seats in Uttarakhand has arrested two more people, taking the total to five, while six admissions under the orphan quota have been cancelled.
Current Summary
According to a September 29 the420.in report, Uttarakhand's Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the alleged use of forged certificates to secure medical college admissions has arrested two more accused — a middleman who allegedly used tehsil connections to obtain verification reports, and an associate who runs a mobile phone shop — taking the total number of arrests in the case to five. The accused are alleged to have facilitated preparation and verification of forged domicile and freedom-fighter-descendant certificates. Separately, the admissions of six candidates who allegedly used fake orphan certificates to secure MBBS seats under the orphan quota have been cancelled. Police registered FIRs at Raipur and Clement Town police stations on September 13. The investigation began with the arrest of the father of a female student, identified as Arvind, and a Meerut-based middleman named Rupesh Pandit; their interrogation led investigators to Dheeraj Kumar Srivastava, a resident of Madhya Pradesh, who allegedly said he arranged certificates through a person claiming strong tehsil connections. Authorities are also planning changes to the counselling process, including on-the-spot verification of essential documents. A further September 29 Times of India report cites a call for the investigation's scope to be widened to also cover domicile certificate verification processes. A further September 29 Medical Dialogues report states Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Uttarakhand Medical Education University has separately cancelled the provisional MBBS admissions of 15 candidates across five government medical colleges — Haldwani, VCSG Srinagar, Haridwar, Doon and Almora — after their domicile, category and/or sub-category certificates failed verification, ahead of Round-3 NEET UG counselling. Affected candidates held seats under OBC, SC, orphan and EWS categories.
What We Know
- SIT has arrested five people in total, including two arrested most recently: a middleman and a mobile-shop associate.
- Six MBBS admissions secured under the orphan quota using allegedly fake orphan certificates have been cancelled.
- FIRs were registered at Raipur and Clement Town police stations in Dehradun on September 13.
- The probe traces from Arvind and Meerut-based middleman Rupesh Pandit to Dheeraj Kumar Srivastava of Madhya Pradesh.
- Authorities plan to introduce on-the-spot document verification in future counselling rounds.
- A call has been made to expand the SIT investigation's scope to include domicile certificate verification processes.
- HNBUMU has cancelled the provisional MBBS admissions of 15 candidates after domicile, category and sub-category certificates failed verification.
- The cancelled seats span five colleges: Haldwani, VCSG Srinagar, Haridwar, Doon and Almora.
- Affected candidates had been admitted under OBC, SC, orphan and EWS quota categories.
What Is Still Unclear
- The full scale of the racket and how many total admissions may ultimately be affected.
- Whether any university or counselling board officials are implicated.
- Timeline for completing the SIT investigation and any criminal charges to be filed.
What Changed
- 30 Sept, 01:51 amA September 29 Medical Dialogues report states Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Uttarakhand Medical Education University has cancelled the provisional MBBS admissions of 15 candidates after their domicile, category and/or sub-category certificates failed verification, ahead of Round-3 NEET UG counselling. The cancelled seats span five government medical colleges: five at Government Medical College Haldwani, four at VCSG Government Institute of Medical Science and Research Srinagar, three at Government Medical College Haridwar, two at Government Medical College Doon, and one at Government Medical College Almora. Affected candidates had been admitted under OBC, SC, orphan and EWS categories; some had opted for the float option allowing upgrades in later rounds. The university acted on Monday evening, before Round-3 registration began on Tuesday.
- 30 Sept, 12:51 amA September 29 Times of India report cites a call for the SIT probing the fake certificate racket in Uttarakhand medical college admissions to expand its scope to also examine domicile certificate verification processes.
- 30 Sept, 12:42 amSignal detected: Fake Certificate Racket in Uttarakhand Medical Admissions: Two More Arrested, Six MBBS Seats Cancelled