The Thane Police Crime Branch has arrested the chairman of a paramedical organisation in Thane for allegedly providing forged D. Pharm diploma certificates to people who wanted to start pharmacies.

The police have also arrested four pharmacists from Thane and Bhiwandi who allegedly paid money to obtain the certificates. According to the police officials, inquiries were initiated into the matter after the Thane Crime Branch Unit I received a tip-off that several pharmacists in Thane were operating without proper qualifications.

Acting on tip-off

Acting on the information, Unit I officers picked up four pharmacists, Arvindkumar Bhat and Balwantsingh Chauhan from Thane and Raju Yadav and Budharam Ajoniya from Bhiwandi, for inquiries. A Unit I officer said, “Our inquiries revealed that the four suspects had not even cleared their Class X or Class XI exams and still managed to secure D. Pharm certificates. We verified this information by checking with the Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Boards. We then made further inquiries about the source of the D. Pharm certificates. The four suspects revealed that they had obtained the certificates from a private organisation called Deep Paramedical Organisation.”

The officer said that the inquiries also established that the pharmacists were running pharmacies without having received any training or education in pharmacy. The four pharmacists were arrested. Based on their interrogation, the police also arrested Purushottam Tahilramani, chairman of Deep Paramedical Organisation.

The officer said, “We are still conducting inquiries to find out how long the organisation has been active and how many pharmacists in the Thane and nearby areas have obtained certificates from them. Prima facie inquiries indicate that Mr. Tahilramani would charge around ₹1 lakh to ₹1.5 lakh for the certificates.”

The five arrested accused have been charged with cheating and forgery under the Indian Penal Code and further investigations into the racket are under way.