Delhi Police have arrested nine people, including employees linked to Chief Medical Officer offices and a member of a disability board, for allegedly running an interstate network that arranged fake disability certificates for admissions to educational institutions. Police said the network used altered identity details, the Unique Disability ID (UDID) portal and government hospitals in Uttar Pradesh to prepare and issue the documents.
The arrests were made by the Special Staff of Delhi Police’s northern district. The case came to light after police arrested an alleged mastermind, identified as Lalit, from North Campus on August 31. Police said he was living in Faridabad and was found carrying 16 disability certificates issued by government hospitals in Badaun, Bareilly and Siddharth Nagar.
According to the police, the certificates were being used to seek admission under the disability category in BTech and other undergraduate courses. A case was registered at Maurice Nagar police station, and further investigation is under way.
Police said the alleged network operated across several stages of the certification process. It allegedly obtained students’ personal data, altered addresses on Aadhaar documents and used addresses in districts including Siddharth Nagar, Badaun, Bareilly and Gorakhpur. The modified details were then allegedly used to upload applications on the UDID portal.
The UDID system is intended to provide a standardised identity document for persons with disabilities and support access to government benefits and services. In this case, investigators allege that the process was manipulated by using false addresses and fabricated medical records before certificates were issued through government hospitals and related offices.
During the investigation, police identified alleged links between Lalit and several people connected with government offices in Uttar Pradesh. These included Kuldeep, a contractual employee at the Bareilly CMO office; Sher Singh Solanki from Badaun; Dr Lakshmi Kant Saxena, a member of the Bareilly disability board; and J P Shukla, a senior malaria inspector in Siddharth Nagar. Police have alleged that the accused helped prepare fake medical reports and certificates by using arrangements connected with government hospitals and CMO offices.
Police said each certificate was allegedly sold for between Rs 20,000 and Rs 30,000. Technical investigation and examination of bank transactions led to the arrests of J P Shukla and his associate Surendra Rastogi, according to the report. Another accused, Aadesh Kumar, was arrested from Sitapur, where police allegedly recovered nine disability certificates from his house.
Dhirendra Kumar Pandey, a junior assistant posted at the Deoria CMO office, has also been accused of helping prepare fake certificates. The police have alleged the involvement of officials and other personnel connected with hospitals and administrative offices, but their individual roles remain under investigation.
The case raises concerns about the misuse of public certification systems that determine eligibility for educational admissions and other entitlements. A forged disability certificate can affect both the integrity of reserved admission categories and the access of eligible applicants whose rights depend on accurate verification. The investigation will also have to establish whether students named on the recovered certificates were aware of the alleged fraud and where the documents were used.
Police are searching for absconding accused Chandan Singh Yadav and other suspected members of the network. Investigators are also examining the identities of the students linked to the recovered certificates, the institutions where the documents may have been submitted, and the role of doctors and other hospital employees connected with the issuing facilities.
