Doctor unearths fake caste certificate scam

A female MBBS doctor in Mumbai allegedly fraudulently gained a seat and an MBBS degree under the VJNT quota using forged documents. A case has been registered against the doctor and her husband, who is also a doctor.

Mumbai: An alleged fraud has surfaced as a result of an alert doctor, wherein a female MBBS doctor fraudulently gained a seat and an MBBS degree under the Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribe (VJNT) quota, using forged documents.

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According to the authorities, Dr Jagdish Rathod, a resident of Kalyan, suspected the accused’s involvement after failing to secure admission to a postgraduate course in skincare after taking the NEET PG entrance examination.

In 2022, Rathod appeared for the exam and got a rank of 25,498 despite which, he could not secure admission to a medical course. He then went through the records of the candidates who got admission to the course.

In this matter, a case has been registered by the Sion police station against Dr Anil Raghuwanshi and Dr Antara Raghuwanshi under IPC sections 34 (Common intention), 420 (Cheating), 465 (Punishment for forgery), 466 (Forgery of record of Court or of public register etc), 468 (Forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (Whoever fraudulently or dishonestly uses forged document as genuine).

The police said Raghuwanshi is a renowned doctor in Dhule.

“After checking the records, Dr Rathod was convinced that Raghuwanshi didn’t fall in the VJNT category. He shared the details of the case with Dr Anil Salunkhe, who had fought several legal battles involving caste issues,” said the police officer.

Police further informed that the complainant filed an RTI request, and the caste verification committee in Nashik informed them that there was no entry with them relating to Dr Antara Raghuwanshi, implying that her caste certificate and verification were forged.

“After the plaint, Raghuwanshi became aware of it and cancelled her PG admission taken at SMBT Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Igatpuri, Nashik where she was studying PG in skincare,” said the police officer.

However, because she had completed her MBBS at Lokmanya Tilak Medical College, Sion on the same forged documents from 2016 to 2021, a case was promptly filed against them.

Reacting to the development, Dr Rathod said, “In the legal battle, I was helped by several organisations, including Banjara Sanghatana and the National Seva Doctors Association.”