Two revenue sub-inspectors were suspended on Wednesday as Special Investigation Team (SIT) continued its probe the alleged use of forged certificates to secure MBBS admissions in Uttarakhand .
Teams also examined admission records at medical colleges and documents at government office to establish how fraudulent certificates were issued and verified, officials said.
The two revenue sub-inspectors: Jagdish Rathore and Dimple were suspended following a preliminary inquiry into the matter. “The SIT has received documents from three medical colleges and is scrutinising them. The investigation follows allegations that candidates used fraudulent freedom fighter-dependent and domicile certificates to secure MBBS seats. The state government expanded scrutiny to other reserved categories amid the allegations. Whistleblower Pradeep Bahuguna demanded that domicile certificates of all candidates admitted under the state quota be re-examined. Bahuguna also raised questions over candidates admitted under the orphan reservation. He pointed to wide variations in the marks of candidates admitted under the orphan quota.
Baloni also said Arvind Kumar, father of a National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) aspirant who obtained admission to Government Medical College, Haldwani, allegedly tried to involve three other parents while seeking more than ₹ 40 lakh from them for admissions through the freedom fighter quota . 568 candidates were provisionally admitted under State Quota reservations across vertical and horizontal categories, according to officials. Of these, 322 were in the Unreserved category, 103 in the Scheduled Caste category, 83 in the Other Backward Classes category, 43 in the Economically Weaker Section category and 17 in the Scheduled Tribe category. The state’s seat allocation system operates through a 100-point roster, with vertical reservations of 19% for Scheduled Castes, 14% for Other Backward Classes, 10% for Economically Weaker Sections and 4% for Scheduled Tribes, while the remaining 53% seats are unreserved. Horizontal reservations operate within these categories, including 30% for Uttarakhand women and allocations for wards of defence personnel, persons with disabilities and orphans. 19 candidates secured MBBS seats under the orphan quota, of whom 17 had completed both Class 10 and Class 12 outside Uttarakhand, according to the data cited by him. Scores ranged from 415 marks for the highest-ranked candidate to 208 marks for one candidate, according to the data he cited.
“All documents that were sought are being provided to the investigative teams,” she said. SIT head Jaya Baloni, superintendent of police (Rural), said the team is currently investigating admissions linked to the freedom fighter-dependent quota. Investigation could be extended to other categories if fresh leads emerge”, she said. A further 210 candidates exercised the “Selected Float” option to retain provisional allocations while seeking upgrades in subsequent counselling rounds. Director of Medical Education Dr Ashutosh Sayana said an audit of admissions made during the first and second counselling rounds had been initiated. He said, “The third counselling, scheduled to begin on September 28, would be conducted under strict scrutiny of domicile and other relevant certificates”. He alleged that some applications were cleared without mandatory physical verification and said scrutiny should extend beyond lower-level revenue officials to supervisory levels. He said two had completed both examinations in the state.
Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Apoorva Singh said the two officials were suspended on the orders of the Dehradun district magistrate for alleged gross negligence and for verifying credentials before issuing the disputed certificates on Tuesday evening.
