Chandigarh, September 29
With two PGI doctors in the CBI net, the hunt is now on for those who appeared in the entrance test in place of the duo. The impersonators also hold the key to identification of other doctors who might have managed to secure a seat in the PGI and other prestigious institutes across the country after paying a hefty amount to agents.

“The impersonators have to be either doctors or brilliant students already pursuing similar courses,” said CBI chief Mahesh Aggarwal today. He added that the CBI has alerted its teams across the country and was looking at the possibility of several young doctors colluding with the “agents” who run this massive admission racket.

Investigations by The Tribune reveal that the agents have on their rolls both male and female impersonators. However, the availability of female impersonators is less. This became clear during a conversation of The Tribune team with an agent, who said they charge more if the candidate is a female.

The Tribune began its investigations into the scam in July this year after some students in the city received SMSes from agents offering direct admissions to medical colleges in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Bhopal. Some of these SMSes were forwarded to The Tribune following which its team, posing as parents, contacted these agents.

In a conversation, that took place in July, the agent assured The Tribune team that they would help its candidate appear in the pre-medical entrance test in Madhya Pradesh even if the date for sending the application forms has lapsed. The agent asked The Tribune team to send the candidate to Bhopal a few days before the test with Rs 15 lakh and assured that his form would be filled. The roll number would be issued to the candidate the same day and he can sit in the test. His name, they assured, would be in the merit list.