'Munna Bhai MBBS' caught with fake marks cards

A 27-year-old MBBS graduate has been arrested for submitting fake documents, including marks cards, to apply for admission to the Doctor of Medicine (MD) course at a city college.

Police believe Rajesh Kumar Rai, from Samastipur, Bihar, is a genuine MBBS doctor who faked the marks cards in order to get a good rank in the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET PG). What has, however, baffled them is his good performance in the actual entrance test, minus the MBBS score.

Based on his NEET PG rank, Rai secured an MD seat at the Sapthagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Hesaraghatta Main Road. He appeared at the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) office for counselling on March 23 and submitted the required documents, including the marks cards. A few days later, the KEA received an e-mail from an unknown sender who claimed that Rai had submitted fake marks cards and asked the officials to re-examine them.

Shilpa, an official at the KEA, filed a complaint at the jurisdictional Malleswaram police, suspecting a big racket and requesting a thorough investigation.

Police examined Rai’s documents and concluded that they were indeed fake. The KEA then sent him a message, asking him to appear on April 26 for document verification. When he turned up, police arrested him. Rai is said to have told the police that he had indeed studied MBBS and done well in NEET PG but confessed that the marks cards were fake.

He said that he got the fake marks cards with the help of a friend who is now absconding. Police produced Rai before a magistrate and obtained permission to interrogate him. “We have to get to the root of this racket,” a police officer said. KEA officials suspect an organised gang behind the marks card racket. “This is the first such case. We will now re-examine the documents submitted by all the students,” a senior officer at the KEA said.