In a nationwide raid conducted against fake doctors, the CBI said Thursday it arrested five people for obtaining fraudulent registration certificate from Medical Council of India (MCI) and registered a case against eight doctors.

 

 The case registered is against eight doctors and some unknown officials of MCI as well as other people. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said information pertaining to this scam was received and intelligence was developed before filing an FIR against eight doctors who claimed they had medical degrees from Russia and China.

 

 The doctors, who were possessing a primary medical qualification awarded by MCI, in conspiracy with unknown officials of MCI, obtained false permanent registration certificate issued by it.

 

 "This was allegedly done on the basis of false documents and false entries made in the computers of the MCI's registration section," said a CBI official.

 

 The official said that as per the rules prevailing in India, the doctors who receive primary medical qualification degree by medical institutions abroad are required to pass a mandatory screening test in India to get the permanent registration certificates to practice here.

 

 "In the present case, the accused doctors had not allegedly cleared the said screening test conducted by the National Board of Examinations," said the official.

 During inquiry, it came to light that the fake registration certificates were generated by the MCI in respect of the accused doctors and the same were dispatched to them in a hurried manner.

 

 The agency Thursday conducted raids at the offices and residences of the doctors and some MCI officials. The raids were conducted at more than 12 places across the country including Asansol in West Bengal, Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Chhatrapur in Madhya Pradesh, Aurangabad in Maharashtra, Thiruvanthapuram and Kollan in Kerala, Vadodra, Mehsana and Ahmedabad in Gujarat and also at Chhattisgarh.

 

 "The investigation so far has revealed a chain of middlemen who allegedly used to charge huge amounts as bribes from the accused doctors for further payments to MCI officials for issuance of such false registration certificates," said the official.

 

 According to CBI, the arrested people told its sleuths that they paid upto Rs. 20 lakh for getting registration from MCI.