Another arrest in MCI registration scam

NEW DELHI, Mar 26: CBI has arrested another doctor from Vadodara in connection with alleged scam involving registration with Medical Council of India through fraudulent means.

The agency has arrested a total of 10 doctors and officials of the Council following allegations that without following proper procedure medical students from China and Russia were registered with MCI, which allowed them to practice though they did not fulfil the necessary parameters, CBI sources said here today.

The agency yesterday arrested a woman clerk of MCI in connection with the scam.

The agency had also recently arrested alleged mastermind, Dr Jitendra Jagodia, who told the investigators about the role of MCI officials in the scam, they said.

CBI had conducted raids on March 20 across the country and arrested six people in connection with the case.

The matter was being personally monitored by CBI Director Ranjit Sinha who believes such people need to be dealt firmly as they play with the lives of patients.

Government has made a screening test mandatory for medical students from erstwhile USSR countries and China who want to practise in India.

The probe agency alleged that these candidates had colluded with MCI officials, who gave them permission to practise in return for illegal gratification even though the doctors did not fulfil the necessary parameters.

CBI had information pertaining to this scam on which intelligence was developed before filing an FIR against eight persons who claimed they had medical degrees from Russia and China.

A conduit in Meerut was acting as a middleman between the potential candidates and MCI for getting the registration for practising in India and one of the candidates had told the investigators that they paid up to Rs 20 lakh.

“The verification in respect of the degrees obtained by these doctors from medical institutions abroad was shown to have been conducted much before even the submission of the applications of these doctors to MCI requesting for their registration,” the CBI alleged.

“In none of the eight instances (cited in the FIR), the candidates had passed the mandatory screening test but their names were entered in Indian Medical Register on the basis of alleged false registration certificates issued by MCI,” the agency said. (PTI)