What began as a routine bribery probe in a Raipur-based medical institute has exploded into one of the largest medical college scams India has ever witnessed. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has unearthed a sprawling network of corruption involving senior officials, prominent educationists, middlemen, and even a self-styled godman with deep political links. The scandal cuts across states and exposes alarming decay in the regulatory machinery of the country’s medical education system.
According to reports, the first crack appeared at Sri Rawatpura Sarkar Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (SRIMSR) in Raipur, where six individuals, including three doctors, were apprehended for allegedly accepting Rs 55 lakh to fabricate a favourable inspection report. CBI officials recovered Rs 38.38 lakh from an aide of the inspection team leader and Rs 16.62 lakh from another official’s home. The agency claimed the bribe was systematically arranged, moved via hawala, and divided among the participants.
What followed was a cascade of revelations implicating names that carry weight across bureaucratic and political circles. The CBI’s FIR includes 35 individuals, such as DP Singh, former Chairman of the University Grants Commission and current Chancellor of TISS; Ravishankar Maharaj, known as Rawatpura Sarkar; and retired IFS officer Sanjay Shukla, a former head of the Chhattisgarh Forest Department and RERA chairman, now identified as a trustee linked to the Rawatpura group. So far, only one person—director Atul Tiwari—has been arrested in connection with the case.
CBI investigators reportedly revealed that the scam spanned cities like Indore, Gurgaon, Udaipur, Visakhapatnam, Warangal, and Jaipur, using fake inspections, dummy faculty, forged experience certificates, and internal leaks to secure approvals for substandard medical colleges. The operation saw crores exchanged via hawala channels as well as formal bank routes, with official recognition allegedly bought and sold on demand.
At the centre of one major thread is Indore’s Index Medical College, where officials are accused of deploying ghost faculty, faking biometric attendance, and producing counterfeit documents to deceive National Medical Commission (NMC) assessors. The CBI suspects that Suresh Singh Bhadoria, head of Index Medical College, and Rawatpura Sarkar were running a racket that charged Rs 3 to 5 crore from private institutions for guaranteed NMC recognition—regardless of infrastructure or merit.
The rot, according to the CBI, reached into the heart of Delhi’s regulatory system. Officials were allegedly photographing confidential internal files and forwarding them via WhatsApp to agents, who then alerted college administrators in advance. Those named in connection with the data leaks include Virendra Kumar of Gurgaon, Manisha Joshi of Dwarka, and Mayur Raval, Registrar of Geetanjali University in Udaipur.
Jitu Lal Meena, formerly a full-time member of the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB), has been identified in the FIR as a pivotal middleman. The CBI has alleged that Meena exploited his position to solicit bribes and even diverted a portion of these illicit funds to construct a Hanuman temple in Rajasthan, reportedly costing Rs 75 lakh.
In southern India, the CBI discovered another dimension of the racket. Agents such as B Hari Prasad from Kadiri, Ankam Rambabu from Hyderabad, and Krishna Kishore from Visakhapatnam were reportedly arranging dummy faculty and fake patients to mislead NMC inspection teams. Kishore is believed to have collected Rs 50 lakh from the director of Gayatri Medical College, while institutions like Father Colombo Institute of Medical Sciences in Warangal allegedly paid over Rs 4 crore—amounts moved through official bank transactions to simulate legitimacy.
The inclusion of self-styled godman Rawatpura Sarkar has triggered serious political ripples. Known for his influence over politicians, bureaucrats, and police officers, his photos with IAS and IPS officers have flooded social media. His trust has long been accused of receiving undue favours in government schemes, road projects, and power subsidies—allegations the trust has consistently denied.
He is no stranger to controversy. His trust has allegedly faced previous allegations of land encroachment, operating unapproved colleges, coercing students into religious practices, and mentally harassing female followers. Several human rights commissions have investigated these charges, though most never reached prosecution—until now.
CBI sources indicate that over 40 medical colleges across the country may have secured recognition through bribes, falsified documents, and orchestrated inspections. The scale of this multi-crore conspiracy has not only undermined regulatory institutions but also cast a shadow over the integrity of medical education in India. The investigation continues to widen.
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