Bhadohi,

24 Nov (HS): Police in Bhadohi apprehended a member of a gang accused of

facilitating MBBS admissions for nine students at Uttar Pradesh government and

autonomous medical institutions using fraudulent 'freedom fighter family'

credentials, authorities said on Monday. Shubham Singh (27) of Jigna in

Mirzapur district worked as a lab technician at a government health center in

Zamania, Ghazipur. He was apprehended by

the Gyanpur police on Sunday while reportedly collecting a pre-determined

payment from an MBBS student, according to a senior official.

During

the arrest, police collected Rs 4.8 lakh from Shubham, which was part of Rs 5

lakh allegedly demanded from the father of candidate Divyanshu Verma, according

to Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhimanyu Manglik.

According

to authorities, Shubham arranged a deal for Rs 15 lakh to ensure Divyanshu's

MBBS admission using a fraudulent independence fighter certificate. SP Manglik

stated that on August 27, 2025, the director general of medical education and

training (UP) requested that police check credentials provided by nine

students, all of whom were residents of various sections of Bhadohi and had

gained MBBS admission under the freedom fighter quota in the 2012-13 academic

session. According to police, the DGME suspected anomalies because the

paperwork seemed questionable. The pupils named are Shambhavi Arya, Divyanshu

Verma, Sejal Singh, Shivansh Yadav, Anvi Bhushan, Amit Srivastava, Ayatuzzahra,

Isha Yadav, and Deepika Arya. The district magistrate's office verified that

none of the nine certificates had been legitimately issued and were all forgeries,

according to the police.

Following

directions from District Magistrate Shailesh Kumar, a FIR was filed on

September 20, 2025, under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita

for defrauding and forgery based on a complaint by clerk Shahid Ali, according

to SP Manglik. Divyanshu told the police that Shubham and his colleague,

Pardeep Dubey, had planned for him to get admitted to NEET-2025 using a bogus

freedom fighter certificate. He claimed that the two had wanted Rs 15 lakh from

his father, Dr Ghanshyam Verma, who is also employed at the Zamania health

institution, with Rs 5 lakh to be paid on Sunday and the remainder

subsequently. Shubham was apprehended at the Singhpur canal bridge in the

Gyanpur region, and the cash was seized.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi