Maharashtra Cyber has dismantled an interstate criminal syndicate involved in manufacturing and distributing forged medical examination records and counterfeit certificates used to secure medical practice registrations across India. Acting on a formal complaint lodged by the Maharashtra Medical Council, investigators have apprehended three individuals so far. Following the council's alert, First Information Report number 72/2026 was formally registered at the Nodal Cyber Police Station in Mumbai. The accused face charges under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita alongside sections 66, 66(C), and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act.
The Modus Operandi Behind Forged Registrations
The investigation centers on foreign medical graduates who pursued their MBBS qualifications abroad and were legally obligated to clear the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination prior to receiving authorization to practice medicine in India. Administered by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences, the FMGE serves as a mandatory screening test to ensure clinical standards. The fraud came to light when the Maharashtra Medical Council conducted routine scrutiny of submitted registration dossiers. Officials detected anomalies showing that certain candidates possessed valid-looking medical registration certificates despite having failed to appear for or clear the mandatory screening examination. Recognizing the breach, the council alerted Maharashtra Cyber, prompting a comprehensive inquiry. By examining digital audit trails, system access logs, and technical data, cyber investigators managed to map out the network and identify key suspects involved in the deceit.
Two Buldhana Applicants Among Those Arrested
Among the three individuals taken into custody, two are candidates who failed to clear the statutory examination yet allegedly obtained fraudulent medical registration documents. The first applicant has been identified as 28-year-old Varun Prataprao Akhade, residing in Buldhana. The second is 26-year-old Sanket Prabhakar Unhale, also a resident of Buldhana. Both individuals had allegedly sought to bypass mandatory qualification protocols and establish themselves as certified medical practitioners through forged credentials.
Crucial Syndicate Operator Apprehended in Nashik
As investigators probed the technical, digital, and financial linkages of the network, they uncovered the operation's logistical backbone. This led to the arrest of 35-year-old Rahul Gopal Patil, a resident of Nashik district. Police have identified Rahul as a pivotal operator within this interstate syndicate, directly responsible for generating, obtaining, and routing the counterfeit medical paperwork to candidates. This clampdown follows earlier state-level enforcement efforts against examination malpractices, such as the Maharashtra Teacher Eligibility Test paper leak case where police successfully arrested all 18 accused named in the chargesheet.
Forged Credentials Manufactured for 15 to 20 Aspirants
Preliminary findings from the ongoing investigation indicate that the syndicate facilitated forged examination scorecards, clearance certificates, and supporting academic paperwork for roughly 15 to 20 medical applicants. In exchange for producing these fake credentials, the accused allegedly accepted illicit payments from the candidates. Maharashtra Cyber is actively working to reconstruct the entire document trail, seeking to determine who designed the counterfeit templates, what channels were used to transmit the files, who submitted them to regulatory desks, and which candidates attempted to utilize them in professional environments. Investigators are currently scrutinizing bank account transactions, seized mobile phones and computing devices, communication logs, and related technical evidence to uncover the full geographic scale of the syndicate and apprehend remaining associates.
Regulatory Advisory Issued by Maharashtra Cyber
In the aftermath of the arrests, Maharashtra Cyber has issued a direct advisory directed at all foreign medical graduates and applicants seeking professional healthcare licenses. The agency urged all candidates to strictly adhere to established statutory and regulatory guidelines. Authorities cautioned aspirants against engaging middlemen, touts, or unauthorized networks in an attempt to circumvent the mandatory screening examination or secure fraudulent registration. Maharashtra Cyber emphasized that strict punitive measures will be enforced against anyone attempting to submit forged documentation or compromise digital registration frameworks. The agency reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding the integrity of digital governance systems and regulatory authorities against document forgery, cyber manipulation, and attempts to subvert statutory healthcare standards.
