Five persons, including a woman, have been arrested for allegedly being part of a racket involving the sale of fake degrees, certificates and diplomas, police said today.
The accused, identified as Ramdev, Atul, Pawiter Singh, Jitender Singh and Sabia Khan, were arrested by East district police following a complaint by one Akshay, police said.
While Ramdev and Atul hail from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, respectively, Pawiter Singh and Jitender are both residents of Punjab. Sabia Khan belongs to Mumbai, police said.
Akshay told police that he wanted to enrol in Std XII and contacted Ramdev for the purpose. Ramdev assured him that he could join a course and would receive a 12th pass certificate upon completion of the same.
"He then paid Rs 30,000 in two instalments to Ramdev. The complainant was later told that his marksheet was ready and he has passed.
"But he was asked to pay an additional Rs 12,000 following which Ramdev gave him a Std XII marksheet. However, the complainant found that the marksheet given to him was fake and approached us," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (East), Ajay Kumar.
It was Ramdev who was first arrested in the case and led police to Atul and Sabia Khan. Sabia told police that the certificates were prepared by Pawiter Singh and one Balvinder Singh Bajwa.
At her instance, a raid was conducted in Jalandhar in which Pawiter Singh and his manager Jitender Singh were arrested while Bajwa went on the run.
Recoveries of a large number of fake certificates in the names of various candidates/students, blank certificates, degree registers, documents, printers, computers and scanners were made in the raid, said Kumar.
The gang also issued certificates for paramedical courses, which were used by candidates to get employment in hospitals and for going abroad, said Kumar.
"The accused used to lure candidates by offering to save their time and labour and would arrange for certificates within a short period. In most cases, the candidates agreed to buy these certificates for prices ranging between Rs 5,000 to 1,20,000," Kumar added.
