Police have made four more arrests from Thane in Maharashtra in the alleged fake paramedical certificates case, taking the number of arrests to 17 so far, an official said on Saturday. The four accused who were arrested on April 11 were working as pharmacists at various medical shops in the city. The arrests were part of an investigation into the fake certificate racket which was busted by crime branch in January this year.

Police had then arrested 13 persons, including the chairman of a paramedical organisation, and the chairman of a Pune-based Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad, which is not recognised by the state government. Police said some students had secured fake class 10 and class 12 certificates from the Pune-based organisation, and used them to get admission in D.Pharm and B.Pharm courses.

The students completed the pharmacy courses and used the qualification certificates to get jobs as pharmacists, they said in a release. The four arrested persons are identified as Kamlesh Patel, 23, Jagdish Choudhari, 42, Vazaram Choudhari, 36, and Chunilal Choudhari, 50.

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