The arrest of two doctors apparently with a controversial background here has laid bare a racket that is being compared with the Hindi movie "Munna Bhai M.B.B.S."
The head of King George's Medical University (KGMU) admits that the two, assistant professor KK Singh and junior resident Raj Kumar Gupta, got into the century-old institution without passing the medical entrance examination.
KGMU vice chancellor Mahendra Bhandari said: "We have reason to believe that both managed to gain entry into the MBBS course the 'Munna Bhai' way."
The box office hit is about a mischief-maker played by Sanjay Dutt who enters a medical college after arm-twisting the teachers and college staff.
Singh and Gupta have been arrested but for other reasons - this month's violence and arson at the campus.
Ashutosh Pandey, the senior superintendent of police here, said: "During investigations we discovered that these doctors got imposters to appear for them in examinations.
"They allegedly intimidated their teachers into getting clearance for this."
University records, officials say, show that KK Singh's appointment violated all rules of the university, allegedly aided by his father KM Singh, who then headed KGMU.
"KK Singh was initially appointed a casualty medical officer and was subsequently named an assistant professor in the surgical department," said one senior faculty member.
{{/usCountry}}"KK Singh was initially appointed a casualty medical officer and was subsequently named an assistant professor in the surgical department," said one senior faculty member.
{{/usCountry}}Vice chancellor Bhandari added: "Records show that he has rarely taught students and hardly entered the operation theatre."
Pandey claims to have gathered sufficient evidence to establish the involvement of Singh and Gupta in the arson that caused the death of a medical student during KGMU's centenary celebrations.
Gupta, who reportedly belonged to a humble rural family, made it to the MBBS course in 1992, allegedly with a fake certificate that showed him as a Dalit or Scheduled Caste.
"He dropped his surname - Gupta - to project himself as a Scheduled Caste. But he reverted to Gupta after clearing the undergraduate course," Bhandari said.