Dehradun, Sept. 26 -- District authorities have identified at least seven people so far who allegedly obtained forged freedom fighter certificates claiming to be descendants of late freedom fighter Dharamveer Verma as part of a verification drive spurred by a whistleblower's complaint to district authorities regarding the alleged fraud. The seventh person was identified as Aditya, a resident of Dehradun's Mothrowala. "We have forwarded all the documents related to the case to SIT, which is investigating the matter and will do so as fresh documents come for scrutiny," said sub-divisional magistrate (Sadar) Apoorva Singh. Preliminary findings suggest that Aditya has not used the document to secure admission or any government benefit, said officials. The alleged fraud first came to light after four female candidates secured MBBS admissions using documents that were subsequently found to be fraudulent. Verification revealed that their Freedom Fighter Dependent certificates and permanent residence certificates were allegedly forged. An FIR was subsequently registered and a candidate's father among three people arrested since. The investigation later identified another male candidate whose permanent address was found to be false. While his residential address was found to be genuine, his certificate was deemed fake after an unsuccessful attempt to secure admission. He is currently cooperating with the police investigation. Officials said a key finding in the probe concerns the use of an identical Pension Payment Order (PPO) number in applications submitted by four candidates linked to the Clement Town and Raipur areas. The probe has now extended to neighbouring Uttar Pradesh after investigators found that the disputed PPO numbers did not correspond to registered freedom fighters in Uttarakhand's state archives. SIT officials said forensic examination of and digital devices seized from suspects was underway to trace financial transactions, identify alleged commission agents and establish the wider network behind the document-forging operation....