UP: Member of gang securing MBBS admissions with forged freedom fighter certificates held

BHADOHI: Police in Bhadohi have arrested a member of a gang that allegedly facilitated MBBS admissions for nine students in the Uttar Pradesh government and autonomous medical colleges using forged 'freedom fighter family' certificates, officials said on Monday. The arrested accused, Shubham Singh (27) of Jigna in the Mirzapur district, was a lab technician at a government health centre in Zamania, Ghazipur.

He was caught by the Gyanpur police on Sunday while allegedly collecting a pre-decided payment from an MBBS student, a senior officer said.

During the arrest, police recovered Rs 4.8 lakh from Shubham, which was part of Rs 5 lakh allegedly taken from the father of candidate Divyanshu Verma, Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhimanyu Manglik said.

According to the police, Shubham struck a deal of Rs 15 lakh to secure Divyanshu's MBBS admission using a forged freedom fighter certificate. SP Manglik said the director general of medical education and training (UP), on August 27, 2025, had asked the police to verify the certificates submitted by nine students, all residents of different parts of Bhadohi, who had secured MBBS admission in the 2012-13 academic session under the freedom fighter quota.

DGME suspected irregularities

The DGME suspected irregularities after the documents appeared dubious, the police said. The students identified are Shambhavi Arya, Divyanshu Verma, Sejal Singh, Shivansh Yadav, Anvi Bhushan, Amit Srivastava, Ayatuzzahra, Isha Yadav and Deepika Arya. Verification by the district magistrate's office revealed that none of the nine certificates had been officially issued and that all had been forged, the police said.

Based on a complaint by clerk Shahid Ali, an FIR was lodged on September 20, 2025, under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to cheating and forgery, following orders of District Magistrate Shailesh Kumar, SP Manglik said.

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NEET 2025: Forged document for admission

During the investigation, Divyanshu told the police that Shubham and his associate, Pardeep Dubey, had arranged the forged freedom fighter certificate for his NEET-2025 admission, he said.

He added that the duo had demanded Rs 15 lakh from his father, Dr Ghanshyam Verma, also posted at the Zamania health centre, of which Rs 5 lakh was to be paid on Sunday and the remaining later.

Police arrested Shubham near the Singhpur canal bridge in the Gyanpur area and recovered the cash. He allegedly admitted to taking money from Dr Verma and confirmed that others were involved. Meanwhile, efforts are on to arrest Shubham's associates, officials said, adding that he will be produced before a court later on Monday.