BHOPAL: Gone are the days when the bounties offered for the capture of Chambal bandits were a measure of their notoriety. Now, Munnabhais have beaten them on the most-wanted scale in the badlands.

Doctors and medical students embroiled in the pre-medical test (PMT) scam are ahead of bandits in the absconders’ list of Gwalior police, whose jurisdiction straddles the ravines. Since January, Gwalior police have declared bounties on 76 criminals. Of them, 46 are doctors, medical students or middlemen accused in the PMT scam.

A reward of Rs 15,000 was recently offered for the capture of a dacoit, who remains unidentified in police records. But there are at least eight medics who carry a similar bounty on their heads.

After the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examinations Board ( MPPEB ) scam surfaced, special investigation teams were constituted in each district to investigate the medical admission fraud. Gwalior police have so far arrested 16 medics on whom bounties were declared and eight surrendered before the court. The rest are on the run.

The accused are either students or alumni of Gajra Raja Medical College in Gwalior. The college administration has so far expelled at least 36 students and a high-power committee is scrutinizing several other students.

"A number of accused in the PMT scam have been arrested and those absconding will be arrested soon," Santosh Singh, senior superintendent of police, Gwalior, told TOI.

