Warangal: In a major education fraud linked to the Christian missionary-run medical education sector, the Father Colombo Institute of Medical Sciences (FCIMS), operating under the aegis of the Warangal Diocese, has had its licence revoked by the National Medical Commission (NMC) following a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe that unearthed large-scale fraud, bribery, and regulatory manipulation.
Located on Hunter Road in Warangal, FCIMS was granted approval in March 2023 to operate a 150-seat medical college affiliated to Kaloji Narayana Rao University. However, a CBI FIR dated 30 June 2025 has now exposed the basis of that approval: systematic deceit, unauthorised access to government data, fake compliance practices, and widespread bribery of public officials.
Fake Faculty, Fictitious Patients, and Bribed Officials
The CBI alleges that FCIMS orchestrated fake inspections by deploying proxy faculty and fictitious patients to meet mandatory compliance standards. The institution is also accused of illegally accessing confidential information from the Ministry of Health and NMC, including inspection schedules and identities of assessors.
The FIR further claims that bribes were paid to key regulatory officials and intermediaries, using both formal banking channels and hawala networks, to obtain Letters of Approval (LoA) and renewals fraudulently. These activities amount to serious criminal violations under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Diocese Management and Key Clergy Under Scanner
The management of FCIMS is directly linked to the Warangal Diocese. Its Trust Board is composed almost entirely of priests, with Most Rev. Dr. Udumala Balashow Reddy, former Bishop of Warangal and current Bishop of Visakhapatnam, serving as Chairman and Manager of the college trust.
The CBI has named Fr. Joseph Kommareddy, a senior church priest of the Diocese and board member of FCIMS, as Accused No. 33. He is alleged to have facilitated Rs 66 lakh in bribe payments to intermediary Dr. B. Hari Prasad—Rs 20 lakh and Rs 46 lakh in two separate tranches—intended to influence regulatory clearances in FCIMS’s favour.
These revelations have cast serious doubts on the institutional integrity of the Diocese’s involvement in education and exposed a deeper network of clerical and bureaucratic complicity.
Opaque NGO Structures and FCRA Links
Complicating the matter further is the existence of multiple overlapping entities linked to the Diocese. FCIMS’s official website and the NGO Darpan portal list Warangal Diocese Educational Society as its managing body. Fr. Kommareddy is also listed as a trustee of this society, alongside other prominent Diocese figures.
Another body, the Warangal Diocesan Society, is registered under the FCRA (FCRA ID: 010360003) and shares the same address as the Educational Society. The dual existence of these societies, combined with a lack of public clarity on their operational boundaries, raises suspicions of regulatory arbitrage and potential FCRA violations.
Harish Rao’s Role in Approvals Questioned
According to the Warangal Diocese’s own July 2023 newsletter, the Diocese claimed credit for securing an Essentiality Certificate in 2022 with the “support” of then Telangana Health Minister T. Harish Rao. The letter asserts that within a year, the Diocese obtained NMC clearance and launched a full-fledged medical college.
