Dr. Punjabrao Deshmukh Memorial Medical College in Amravati has registered a complaint against a Kurla-based woman Zeba Arif Khan for allegedly using a fake scheduled caste/scheduled tribe certificates to secure medical education.
Zeba's ex-husband, Ahmad Faraz Siddiqui, a resident of Malad, approached the Malad Police and submitted a written complaint against her which, in turn, forwarded it to Gadge Nagar Police, Amravati, since the college was in the jurisdiction of that police station. According to Siddiqui, he found out about the bogus certificate in April 2022 when Zeba asked him to photocopy some of her documents for a job application at Mumbai International Airport as a medical officer.
"During this process I discovered two questionable certificates including a Scheduled Tribe certificate and its scrutiny committee document which suggested her residence in Jalgaon, which is not her place of origin," he told FPJ.
The FIR was registered on October 13 at the Gadge Nagar police station in Amravati by the administrative officer of the college Ravishekhar Singh. The FIR was registered after the college received a letter from the Directorate of Medical Education and Research, Mumbai, confirming the fake certificate. The Free Press Journal has a copy of both the FIR and the letter by MER. The letter states that Dr. Zeba Arif Khan had taken admission for MBBS Course from ST category at PDMMC in the academic year 2011-2012, which is suspected to be bogus and requested the college authorities to check its validity of the said certificate. The PDMMC, after conducting the technical inquiry on the same, found that the suspicion is substantial.
Zeba's admission eligibility registration cancelled
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nashik, too informed them saying they have cancelled the admission eligibility registration of Zeba.
The FPJ contacted Zeba to know her side of the story. According to her, when she was in a coaching class, she came across a pamphlet which mentioned about providing admissions in medical colleges easily, and had a number attached to it of a person named Dr. Atul Wahab Mirza. Mirza was previously arrested by Nagpada police for allegedly issuing fake certificates to medical aspirants.
"I am a victim of fraud," decries Zeba
"This person convinced me that I'll get admission easily anywhere and I paid him ₹12 lakhs. He never told me about how the admissions will be made, so I am not involved in this crime, rather I am a victim. I met Dr. Mirza at his Nagpada office where I made the payment in cash. I will fight the matter in court, as I am the victim," she said.
