CBI busts one of India's 'largest' medical college scams involving top officials and a godman

The CBI has busted "one of the largest" medical college scams in the country, allegedly involving top officials, middlemen, educationists and also a self-styled godman.

The alleged scam revolves around a racket of bribery by which illegal approvals are given to poor quality medical colleges.

The alleged scam brought high-profile people like former UGC Chairman and current TISS Chancellor DP Singh, self-styled godman Rawatpura Sarkar, Suresh Singh Bhadoria from Indore's Index Medical College, former IFS officer Sanjay Shukla, other officials and middlemen under the scanner of the CBI.

While the central agency FIR includes names of 35 people, only one person - director of Rawatpura Group Atul Tiwari - has been arrested for now.

Through the 'scam', spanning across multiple states in the country, many crores of rupees have been exchanged via hawala and banking routes in order to get approval for substandard medical colleges. The crime included dummy faculty, fake inspections and leaked files.

It all started with one bribe-for-inspection case at Sri Rawatpura Sarkar Institute in Raipur where the CBI caught six persons, including three doctors, accepting a bribe of Rs 55 lakh to issue a fake inspection report.

However, the probe soon led to a much larger nation-wide 'scam', stretching from Rajasthan, Gurgaon and Indore to Warangal and Visakhapatnam. The wider aspect of the scandal was unearthed after the CBI's investigation reached Index Medical College in Indore where the agency found ghost faculty, forged biometric attendance, fake experience certificates, etc.

The CBI also named former full-time member of the Medical Assessment and Rating Board as a middleman.

(With DHNS inputs)