Fadnavis orders SIT probe into Satara medical college admission racket

A racket allegedly helped students with fake mark sheets to get admissions at a private medical college in Maharashtra’s Satara district

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday announced a special investigation team (SIT) probe into a racket that helped students with fake mark sheets to get admissions at a private medical college in Satara district.

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. (ANI File Photo)

Fadnavis, in the state assembly, also announced transferring a deputy superintendent (DySP) of police and an investigation officer to a non-administrative position for not conducting proper investigation in the case.

He said the roles of both the police officers will also be investigated in the case and till then they will be sent on forced leave.

“It is a case of major corruption. Students who failed in exams were helped in giving admissions in the medical college by providing them bogus marksheets. Those running the institution such as Mahadev Deshmukh, Chandrakant Deshmukh and one Tridip Guha were found involved in it,” the deputy chief minister said.

He informed the state assembly that the police did not investigate the case honestly despite an eyewitness Nilesh Mane coming forward. “We will reinvestigate the case through SIT in the next one month. The role of Dy SP and investigation officer will also be investigated,” he said.

BJP legislator Jaykumar Gore raised the issue and alleged the Rural Institute of Research Centre Hospital in Satara was providing fake marksheets and migration certificates among other documents to admit ineligible students into the medical college under management quota. This has been going on for years.

“The college was giving fake Class 12 marksheets and migration certificates,” he said, adding that the police officers probing the case had initially refused to take the complaint and were also found trying to shield the guilty.

“The DySP was seen at the private functions of the accused,” Gore alleged. He said that the case was registered after it was raised in the state assembly. “The then and the leader of Opposition (Devendra Fadnavis) telephoned four times to Dy SP for investigating the case seriously but all in vain,” he added.