E-Paper
Nine chemists held for fraudulently obtaining D-Pharmacy certificates
Total arrests in the case reaches 12: all accused running chemist shops at various locations in Punjab; According to an official spokesperson of the VB, the accused were involved in bribing owners and principals of private pharmacy colleges for getting forged and fabricated Class 12 and D-Pharmacy certificates from different institutions and fake registration certificates from Punjab State Pharmacy Council (PSPC)
The Punjab vigilance bureau (VB) on Tuesday arrested nine persons for fraudulently obtaining D-Pharmacy licences in connivance with some privately-managed colleges in the state, taking the total number of arrests in the case to 12.
According to an official spokesperson of the VB, the accused were involved in bribing owners and principals of private pharmacy colleges for getting forged and fabricated Class 12 and D-Pharmacy certificates from different institutions and fake registration certificates from Punjab State Pharmacy Council (PSPC).
Presently, all the accused are running medical shops in various parts of the state, posing a danger to people’s lives.
A case under sections 420, 465, 466, 468, 120-B of the IPC was registered on December 9 against former registrars and officials of the PSPC for committing irregularities in admissions, registration and issuing licences of D-Pharmacy to students studying in private colleges.
Parveen Kumar Bhardwaj and Dr Tejvir Singh, both former registrars at PSPC, along with superintendent Ashok Kumar were arrested the same day in connection with the case.
The spokesperson said that during investigation of the case, section 409, and 467 of the IPC along with sections 7, 7-A, 8, 13(1) read with 13(2) of Prevention of Corruption Act were also added.
The probe also uncovered fake certificates of 143 students between 2005 and 2022, revealing fraudulent practices in admissions and registration at the PSPC, the official said.
The accused have been identified as Umesh Kumar of Bhadson in Patiala district, Mohammad Aslam of Malerkotla city, Abdul Sataar of Lasosoi in Malerkotla district, Mohammad Maneer of Binjokee Khurd village in Malerkotla district, Gurdeep Singh of Mandi Gobindgarh, Puneet Sharma of Bahdurgarh in Patiala district, Ravinder Kumar of Chappar village Patiala district, Ashok kumar of Barnala city and Maninder Singh of Rahon Road in Ludhiana city.
The spokesperson further revealed that during investigation, it was found that all the above accused got their D-Paharmacy degrees from private colleges, including Punjab Multipurpose Medical Institute Sehna in Barnala; Lord Krishna College of Pharmacy, Lehragaga, Sangrur district; Onkar College of Pharmacy Sajuma, Sunam, Sangrur district; Maa Sarswati College of Pharmacy, Abohar, Fazilka district; GHG College of Pharmacy, Raikot, Ludhiana district and Lala Lajpat Rai College of Pharmacy in Moga.
He said that all the arrested accused would be produced in a court on Wednesday.
The spokesperson said that to fill vacant seats in D-Pharmacy institutions, the owners of private colleges allegedly admitted students from other states in connivance with the accused registrars and officials of PSPC without obtaining mandatory migration certificates, accepting significant bribes from unsuspecting candidates.
Moreover, several students obtained admission to the D-Pharmacy course by possessing the requisite Class 12 certificate in medical or non-medical streams through correspondence, whereas it has to be passed in regular classes and by attending science practical, the spokesperson said.
The official said that investigation in this case was under progress to further scrutinise the roles of other officials, employees, and clerks of PSPC, along with individuals associated with private colleges.
