According to the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) statement, the accused allegedly facilitated fraudulent pharmacist registrations using forged documents, allowing unqualified people to operate as pharmacists in the city.
In a major crackdown, the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) busted a large-scale fake pharmacy registration racket and arrested 47 people, including a former employee of the Delhi Pharmacy Council (DPC) on Wednesday. The arrests were made following an extensive investigation into fraudulent pharmacist registrations facilitated through forged documents, according to an official statement.
The racket, as per the ACB’s findings, was masterminded by Kuldeep Singh, a former registrar at DPC, who allegedly conspired with a private firm hired to conduct online pharmacist registrations. Notably, the company was appointed without any formal tendering process, blatantly violating established procedures, revealed Joint Commissioner of Police (ACB) Madhur Verma.
“The scam was orchestrated by Kuldeep Singh, former registrar at DPC, in collaboration with a private firm which was hired to conduct online registrations of the pharmacists. However, the company was hired without any tendering process and in violation of the laid down procedures,” he added.
How were bribes channeled?
According to the investigation, bribes were channeled through a middleman identified as Sanjay, who coordinated between DPC officials and various diploma colleges. The network allowed applicants to submit fraudulent certificates, which were then falsely verified by corrupt employees within pharmacy institutes.
The racket enabled applicants to upload fake certificates which were then falsely verified by complicit employees of pharmacy institutes, read the statement. Some applicants even submitted different sets of documents for multiple registrations, all of which were approved without scrutiny. False verification emails were sent from fabricated addresses to validate counterfeit credentials, it read.
Over 4,900 pharmacist registrations were approved
Authorities discovered that Kuldeep Singh continued approving registrations through his personal email even after leaving office on August 16, 2023. Before his final suspension on September 25, 2023, he had illegally approved 232 additional applications, the statement read. In total, Singh had approved 4,928 pharmacist registrations during his tenure from March 17, 2020, to September 25, 2023.
The ACB has arrested 47 people, including six touts, a printing shop owner, three employees of pharmacy colleges and 35 people operating as illegal pharmacists or chemists, read the statement. Neeraj, a printing shop owner from Delhi’s Shahbad, was identified as the supplier of fake certificates. A forensic analysis of his computer revealed the creation of multiple forged documents.
(With PTI inputs)
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