Bharatpur, June 10 -- Four people, including a senior radiographer, were arrested for preparing false silicosis certificates in Dholpur district on Monday, police officers aware of the matter said. Dholpur city kotwali in-charge Hari Narayan Meena said that police arrested Surendra Tyagi, a 50-year-old senior radiographer working at Mangal Singh Hospital, ward boy Saurabh Jatav, an e-Mitra director Ramraj Kushwaha and a broker Sakur Khan after chief medical and health officer Dr Dharam Singh Meena registered a complaint. Silicosis is a lung disease that occurs due to prolonged inhalation of silica dust. Rajasthan has high rates of silicosis patients due to the large number of people employed as limestone miners. "We have traced 106 silicosis certificates, which were falsely prepared," said chief medical and health officer Dr Dharam Singh Meena. A total of 106 out of 109 silicosis certificates prepared between January and March were fake, added Meena. Meena further added that the department started having doubts when the average number of silicosis patients who approached the hospital registration counter per month went up from 5 patients to 25 to 30 patients. To get a silicosis certificate made, an OTP from the radiographer or doctor's registered mobile number is forwarded to the state silicosis centre in Jaipur, said Meena. A patient is first made to undergo an X-ray and then issued their silicosis certificate, he added. Meena filed the complaint on April 3, following which the list of registered numbers authorised to forward OTPs was also handed over to the police. The complaint was registered under Section 318 of the BNS (cheating) and Sections 66C, 66D (computer-related offences) of the IT Act. The state government offers Rs.5 lakh compensation for any certified silicosis patient, out of which Rs.3 lakh is paid to the patient's family prior to their death, and Rs.2 lakh paid after death, said Meena. They are also entitled to a pension of Rs.1,500 per month, he added. Meena further said that earlier, only TB hospitals were authorised to issue silicosis certificates. However, the government later permitted district hospitals to issue certificates. Most X-rays were conducted in private hospitals, but only the phone numbers of radiologists and doctors from government hospitals were authorised to forward the OTPs, he added. Since the scandal's discovery, the government has been forced to stop the benefits given to silicosis patients, said the chief health officer....