Karnataka’s medical education department on Tuesday suspended three doctors arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for allegedly taking bribes while serving on a National Medical Commission (NMC) team that inspected a government medical college in Chhattisgarh.
According to a statement issued by Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil’s office, the suspended doctors are Dr Chaitra M S, Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College and Research Institute, Bengaluru; Dr Manjappa C N, Professor and Head, Department of Orthopaedics, Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences; and Dr Ashok Shelke, Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences.
The three were arrested on July 1 for allegedly taking Rs 55 lakh to issue a favourable inspection report for the Rawatpura Government Institute of Medical Science and Research in Raipur. The bribe was facilitated through intermediaries, with the inspection process manipulated to ensure the institution met the requirements for recognition and seat approval.
The CBI investigation revealed that inspection schedules and the identities of assessors were leaked to the college in advance, allowing it to fabricate records. The agency had taken the three doctors into custody for questioning and searched multiple locations across Karnataka and other states.
Officials from the health ministry, the NMC, and others were part of the bribery scandal. As many as 34 people were named in an FIR registered in connection with the case. The three doctors were the first to be arrested in the case.