2 Rajasthan medical graduates with overseas degrees held for forging certificates; 73 more under lens

JAIPUR: Rajasthan Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG) has arrested two graduates who obtained their medical degrees from abroad before allegedly procuring and submitting forged Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) certificates to obtain internships from the Rajasthan Medical Council (RMC).The FMGE is mandatory for citizens with a foreign medical degree who wish to practice in India.

The main accused in the case, Bhana Ram Mali alias Bhanu (30), was detained at New Delhi airport on Feb 2 and formally arrested the following day. The MBBS graduate from Kazakhstan is considered the mastermind behind the scheme, not only securing a forged FMGE certificate to gain a medical internship for himself but also helping others in similar situations acquire fraudulent certificates.According to additional director general (SOG) Vishal Bansal, Mali is a resident of Bar in Beawar district and was living in Jyoti Nagar, Jaipur.Authorities revealed he had tried to evade capture by travelling through multiple countries, including Thailand, Sri Lanka, Dubai, Kazakhstan and Nepal, before being intercepted by the SOG at New Delhi airport based on specific intelligence inputs about his movements.

The second accused, arrested from Dausa Thursday, has been identified as Indraraj Singh Gurjar (27). He too acquired his MBBS degree from Kazakhstan before obtaining a forged FMGE certificate dated Dec 2022 from Mali.SOG officials said Gurjar used this forged certificate to complete an internship at the Rajiv Gandhi Medical College in Alwar, before receiving a provisional registration. He is also accused of supplying forged FMGE certificates to other candidates for monetary gain.Bansal said the latest arrests are not isolated, as the SOG had in Dec last year arrested three other graduates with medical degrees from abroad who had similarly submitted forged FMGE certificates. “Mali had absconded following these arrests,” Bansal said. The SOG registered a fresh case in the matter Wednesday, and efforts are underway to verify suspect FMGE certificates submitted by other candidates.“Our investigation has revealed an extensive network involving around 73 candidates who had earned their medical degrees overseas but failed to pass the FMGE test. These individuals had subsequently produced forged FMGE certificates to apply for internships under the RMC,” Bansal said.