WARANGAL: Four years after a case was registered over alleged illegal blocking of postgraduate medical seats, the Matwada police are preparing to file a chargesheet against those responsible for the manipulation of the counselling process.
The police have so far found that 35 PG medical seats were allegedly blocked in the names of candidates who did not seek admission to the seats, according to Matwada Inspector N Karunakar. Notices have been served on 10 persons associated with private medical colleges and the police are awaiting their replies before completing the chargesheet.
“The case was pending when I took charge at the station. After examining the details, we served notices on 10 persons associated with the private medical colleges. We are now completing the investigation and will file the chargesheet soon,” Karunakar said.
He said that the investigation found that the managements of private medical colleges were responsible for blocking the seats. “We found that 35 PG seats were illegally blocked. We will conclude the investigation after receiving the replies from the managements,” Karunakar said.
The case dates back to April 21, 2022, when the Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS) received complaints from students whose names had appeared against PG medical seats in Telangana.
Several of the candidates told the university that they had neither applied for the seats nor intended to join the colleges. Some had secured good ranks in the NEET-PG examination and were eligible for admission in their own states.
The university subsequently approached the police, suspecting that the candidates’ details had been used to block seats during the counselling process. The Matwada police registered a case and began examining the role of private medical colleges and intermediaries.
The investigation named Malla Reddy Institute of Medical Sciences, MNR Medical College, Chalmeda Ananda Rao Institute of Medical Sciences and Maheshwara Medical College in connection with the alleged blocking of PG seats.
The alleged practice was not simply about keeping a seat vacant. Subsequent investigations suggested that coveted PG seats could be held until the later stages of counselling and then released as stray vacancies, when competition for them was limited and the financial value was considerably higher.
ED found medical PG seats sold between Rs 1 crore and Rs 2.5 crore
An Enforcement Directorate investigation that followed the police case alleged that candidates’ counselling credentials were obtained through consultants and middlemen and used to secure seats. In some cases, candidates were allegedly shown as having exited from the process, allowing the seats to be released again.
The ED said such seats could subsequently be sold for large premiums. In 2023, it alleged that some seats were being sold for between Rs 1 crore and Rs 2.5 crore.
The financial trail added another dimension to the case. In June 2023, the ED said it had seized Rs 1.4 crore in cash from premises linked to Malla Reddy Institute of Medical Sciences and frozen Rs 2.89 crore in a bank account. In November 2024, it provisionally attached another Rs 5.34 crore in assets linked to MNR Medical College and Chalmeda Ananda Rao Institute of Medical Sciences.
The university also tightened its rules following the controversy. The penalty for candidates who blocked or exited from PG seats was increased substantially, with subsequent counselling rules providing for a penalty of Rs 50 lakh and a three-year debarment from PG medical admissions in Telangana in specified cases.
