False Class-12 medical verifications unearthed: PSEB officer among 4 booked

The fake medical verification certificates allowed two candidates to obtain D-Pharmacy licences (required to run a chemist shop) through the Punjab Pharmacy Council

The Phase-8 police have booked four people, including an employee of the Punjab State Education Board (PSEB), for issuing fake Class 12 medical verification certificates to two individuals.

The investigation, led by the PSEB joint secretary, uncovered that records related to the case had been tampered with and pages from the verification branch register were missing. (File)

This allowed the duo to obtain D-Pharmacy licences (required to run a chemist shop) through the Punjab Pharmacy Council.

The accused have been identified as Ajay Kumar Sharma of Mansa, Kuldeep Singh and Kishan Singh of Ferozepur, and Avninderpal Singh, a senior assistant at PSEB’s single window in Mohali.

The action came following a complaint by Harpreet Singh, assistant secretary at PSEB.

Police are also investigating the potential involvement of other PSEB employees. According to the complaint, on April 4, 2024, the Punjab Pharmacy Council notified PSEB that the board had submitted conflicting verification results for the Class 12 medical certificates of two candidates, Ajay Kumar and Kuldeep Singh.

Initially, on July 13, 2023, PSEB had confirmed the certificates as genuine. However, after the pharmacy council grew suspicious, they requested a second verification on August 4, 2023, which revealed that the certificates were, in fact, fake.

Further investigation revealed that Avninderpal received 34 verification cases on August 9, 2023, but only made entries for nine of them that day.

All four accused have been booked for cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy at the Phase-8 police station. Further investigation is underway.