The Maharashtra cyber police have arrested two more people in a racket involving allegedly forged Foreign Medical Graduate Examination certificates, taking the total number of arrests to five and widening a case linked to registration with the Maharashtra Medical Council.
The latest arrests are Shivam Singh, a management graduate who runs a hospital in Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, and Dharmendra Laxman Singh, a resident of Bhopal, according to the Times of India report. The case concerns foreign medical graduates who allegedly used forged examination certificates and supporting documents to obtain registration with the MMC despite not clearing the mandatory FMGE screening test conducted by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences.
The investigation has also found that the accused allegedly obtained unauthorised access to the examination and certification portal to generate the counterfeit documents, the report said, citing the police. The alleged use of a digital portal places the case beyond document forgery alone and raises questions about the integrity of the systems used to verify professional qualifications and process medical registrations.
The fraud came to light after the MMC detected discrepancies in the documents submitted for registration. Following the discrepancies, an FIR was registered at the Nodal Cyber Police Station, which is handling the investigation.
The two newly arrested suspects join two beneficiary candidates and an intermediary who had already been arrested in the case. The report did not identify the additional accused by name or provide details of the alleged payments, the number of candidates whose documents may have been affected, or the period over which the alleged access to the examination and certification portal took place.
The case involves the FMGE, a screening examination that foreign medical graduates must clear before seeking registration to practise medicine in India. The alleged use of forged certificates to secure state registration therefore involves both the examination system and the regulatory process through which medical practitioners are authorised to work in Maharashtra.
For the MMC, the reported detection of discrepancies illustrates the role of document scrutiny in identifying irregular registrations. For the cyber police, the investigation now covers the alleged generation of fake certificates, unauthorised portal access and the involvement of candidates and intermediaries. The available report does not state whether any registration has been cancelled or whether further action has been taken against other candidates.
The investigation remains ongoing. The immediate next steps are expected to include examination of the digital access trail, the allegedly forged certificates and the roles of the five arrested persons as the cyber police continue their probe.
