A gang in Gujarat’s Surat, notorious for selling fake medical degrees even to individuals as unqualified as Class 8 graduates for ₹70,000 each, has been busted. The operation, which relied on a database of 1,200 fake degrees, came to light after Gujarat Police arrested 14 individuals posing as doctors who had purchased these fraudulent credentials.
According to the police, the mastermind of the operation, Dr. Ramesh Gujarati, has also been apprehended.
The counterfeit degrees were purportedly “issued by” the “Board of Electro Homoeopathic Medicine (BEHM) Gujarat.” Authorities recovered hundreds of forged applications, certificates, and official stamps during the raid.
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The police received information that three individuals with fake medical degrees were operating allopathy practices, prompting a joint raid by the revenue department and police on their clinics. Upon questioning, the accused presented degrees issued by BEHM, which the authorities confirmed were fraudulent, as the Gujarat government does not recognize such a degree. The accused were also found registering these fake degrees on a counterfeit website.
The police revealed that the main accused, realizing there were no regulations governing electro-homoeopathy in India, devised a plan to create a board to offer degrees in this field. He hired five individuals, trained them in electro-homoeopathy, and ensured they completed the course in less than three years. These individuals were taught how to prescribe electro-homoeopathy medicines.
When the fake doctors encountered skepticism towards electro-homoeopathy, they revised their approach and began offering degrees allegedly issued by the Ayush Ministry of Gujarat. They falsely claimed that BEHM, their fabricated board, had an official tie-up with the state government. The gang charged ₹70,000 for each degree, which came with training and the assurance that holders could practice allopathy, homoeopathy, and Aarogya without issues.
The certificates were issued within 15 days of payment. The “doctors” were told to renew their certificates annually by paying a renewal fee of ₹5,000 to ₹15,000. Those unable to pay were reportedly threatened by the gang. Additionally, two of the accused, Shobhit and Irfan, were involved in embezzling money from the operation.
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