In 1942, Dharamveer Verma spent a month in jail in Dehradun for participating in Mahatma Gandhi’s Quit India Movement .
In September this year, 84 years later, Verma was in the news again with at least six persons showing themselves as his descendants to claim admission in Uttarakhand medical colleges under the “Freedom Fighter Dependent” quota.
In between, in 2014, at the age of 84, Verma passed on leaving behind a family that is now shocked by the venality on display in the current controversy.
“We were shocked when local revenue officials came to our home and asked whether we took benefit of the quota,” said his son, Manoj Kumar Verma, 58, speaking at his residence in Dehradun’s bustling Arhat Bazaar.
Dharamveer was just 12 at the time of his arrest, as per his freedom fighter certificate. “No one from our family has ever used the quota to seek government benefits,” said Manoj Verma, one of Dharamveer’s children.
After perusing the documents of the candidates, Manoj Verma told officials that the six certificates were fake as Dharamveer Verma’s father’s name was mentioned as Khajan Das instead of Manohar Lal.
It was his subsequent complaint triggered an investigation, leading to the detection of nine fake certificates just in Dehradun , and the arrest of five persons.
The racket is larger, claimed activist Pradeep Bahuguna, son of noted environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna, putting the number of candidates who benefited from such certificates at 370.
Uttarakhand’s rules provide for reservation of 85% of 1,525 MBBS and BDS seats in the government medical colleges and 50% of seats in private institutions to state residents.
“I examined first round of the current counselling session and found 24 candidates had claimed seats under the freedom fighter quota,” Bahuguna said.
He also discovered that in several cases the freedom fighter and domicile certificate (essential document to get admission under state quota) were issued a few days before the counselling between August 13 and August 19.
He found that five female candidates and a male one claimed to be the descendant of one freedom fighter and that three applicants had same non-existent residential address in Dehradun’s Rajiv Nagar.
“A local resident told me that Dharamveer worked as a driver in Survey of India and was not aware whether he was a freedom fighter or not,” Bahuguna said. He found two Dharamveer Vermas in official records, neither fitting the profile used in the forged admission applications. He then lodged a complaint with the state’s medical education minister and the District Magistrate and said he suspected that at least 370 admissions were done on the basis of forged documents.
On September 18, the Uttarakhand government formed a seven-member Special Investigation Team led by Superintendent of Police (Dehradun Rural) Jaya Baloni.
So far, the SIT has lodged three FIRs and arrested five persons from three states including Rupesh Pandit, a resident of Purnia district in Bihar who runs an education consultancy in Meerut and Dheeraj Kumar Srivastava, a resident of Bhopal who runs a medical admission consultancy. The two are suspected to be the brains behind the operation.
Also arrested were Sanjay Kumar of Varanasi, Girish Singh of Pithoragarh , and Arvind Kumar, a resident of Haridwar whose daughter was among the beneficiarie.
A senior police officer aware of the investigation said Rupesh Pandit allegedly guaranteed MBBS admissions under the freedom fighter quota for a fee of 45 lakh rupees per candidate with ₹20 lakh taken as advance payment.
“Pandit had been collaborating for over two years with Dheeraj Kumar Srivastava in Bhopal to manufacture high-quality forged documents, including fabricated state domiciles, government dependency certificates, and fraudulent identity documents,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
He added that Sanjay Kumar and Girish Singh provided logistical support .
Apart from his own daughter, Arvind Kumar had sealed deals with two of his acquaintances for MBBS admission using fraud documents.
Baloni said almost every phone being seized has been formatted and nearly all financial transactions were conducted entirely in cash, leaving a minimal digital trail. “We are focusing on locating the key intermediaries who were in direct contact with local revenue officials to facilitate these forged certificates,” she said.
A senior police official said that a Dehradun revenue official (Patwari) admitted during questioning that documents were processed without rigorous physical verification because of excessive work load. Sub-Divisional Magistrate Apurva Singh said two revenue Revenue Sub-Inspectors have been suspended for negligence.
A similar racket was busted in Udham Singh Nagar district leading to registration of at least six separate FIRs, booking over 20 individuals and arresting five suspects.
As in Dehradun, two local revenue officials were placed under suspension for negligence during certificate verification. “We are currently determining whether this was driven by deliberate criminal intent for financial gain,” said Udham Singh Nagar Superintendent of Police (Crime) Anusha Badola.
In response to reports compiled by District Magistrates across various jurisdictions, the Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Uttarakhand Medical Education University has cancelled at least 20 provisional seat allotments following document discrepancies.
Director of Medical Education Dr Ashutosh Sayana said state counselling is conducted via an automated online portal where candidates upload self-attested documents, which are verified against state databases. The original paperwork is reviewed when the student joins the college. “If doubts arise during physical reporting, documents are sent for verification to the issuing authority,” he added. Medical education minister Subodh Uniyal wasn’t available for comment .
RTI activist and advocate Vikesh Singh Negi alleged that an unchecked network of touts, fraudulent applicants, and compliant revenue officials has operated across the state for over two decades. A PIL seeking a CBI investigation is listed for hearing on Wednesday.