MP: Degree Bought for ₹5 Lakh, Became Government Doctor; Uproar Across the State

Bhopal/Damoh/Gwalior: Damoh district in Madhya Pradesh (MP) is once again making headlines due to the illicit activities of quacks. While the case of alleged fake heart surgeon M. John Kane surfaced last year, a major racket involving individuals employed in government health services using fake MBBS degrees has now been exposed in Damoh. Crucially, the trail of this case now appears to lead directly to the state capital, Bhopal.

The police have arrested five accused so far, including three alleged doctors, members of the network responsible for creating the fake degrees, and a data clerk from the National Health Mission (NHM). It is alleged that the gang produced fake MBBS degrees in exchange for lakhs of rupees and even facilitated appointments in government health institutions.

The matter came to light when the Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) of Damoh received complaints that certain doctors were working in ‘Sanjeevani Clinics’—run under the National Health Mission (NHM)—based on suspicious documents. After a preliminary investigation confirmed the validity of the complaints, the matter was referred to the police, and the layers of the entire racket began to unravel one by one.

During the investigation, Kumar Sachin Yadav (a resident of Gwalior) and Rajpal Gaur (a resident of Sehore) were the first to be detained. Verification of their documents revealed that their MBBS degrees were completely fake. Upon interrogation, both admitted to spending ₹5 lakh to procure the forged degrees and securing government health service jobs based on them.

Acting on information provided by the duo, the police arrested another alleged doctor, Ajay Maurya, from Jabalpur. His degree also turned out to be fake upon verification. Following these three arrests, the police uncovered details of an organized network that had been infiltrating the healthcare system for years. The investigation revealed that the alleged mastermind behind the entire racket is Mukesh Chaudhary, a resident of Gwalior, who is currently absconding. The most shocking revelation links the case to the state capital, Bhopal. The investigation has uncovered the role of Adil Siddiqui, a data clerk employed with the National Health Mission (NHM) in Bhopal. He is accused of facilitating the movement of documents within the system during the recruitment process and expediting the verification procedure. The police have arrested him as well. His associate, Hira Singh, was also involved in this fraud; both have been taken into custody by the Damoh police. Together, they used to charge between four and five lakh rupees for a single degree.

Following this revelation, the National Health Mission has initiated a large-scale investigation across the state to verify degrees. Preliminary inquiries have identified nine fake doctors from various districts. All of them have been dismissed from service with immediate effect, and cases of fraud have been registered against them at the respective police stations.

How did they treat patients with fake degrees?
The most critical question is: how did individuals who never received genuine medical education manage to treat patients in government hospitals and clinics? At what stage did the recruitment and verification processes fail? And how many patients’ lives were left in the hands of such alleged doctors?

It is worth noting that just last year, a case involving a doctor with a fake degree came to light; he had performed heart surgeries on several people, and it is alleged that seven patients died following his treatment.