JAMMU: The crime branch of
Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday claimed to have exposed a major scam at an
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) centre in Kathua district, where nearly 8,000 students have secured admission and obtained degrees or diplomas without appearing in any examination.
“We received inputs about one Parshant Bandari and his aides running the illegal racket under the garb of an IGNOU centre at Machhedi Bilawar from 2014-15. The accused embezzled thousands of rupees in the name of admissions and conducted fraudulent examinations on the pretext of running the centre,” said an official spokesman.
Though the centre has conducted no examination till date, about 8,000 candidates — who were issued degrees and were shown as appeared in exams — have illegally benefitted from the scheme. The centre runs two admission sessions — in January and July — and two examinations sessions, in June and December, every year, with about 800 to 1,200 students enrolling in each session, the spokesman said.
Using original centre codes of Katra,
Kishtwar, Chatroo and Paddar, bogus attendance sheets and answer sheets — prepared by IGNOU officials involved in the racket — are submitted to IGNOU from here.
The accused took thousands of rupees from each candidate and embezzled the amount by opening
bank accounts under names of non-existent people shown as chairman and coordinator and used fake signatures for the same. Names of faculty members and counsellors were also made up by Bandari and his aides, in connivance with some IGNOU officials involved in the racket.
An FIR has been registered against Bandari and his
associates under relevant sections of the RPC in connection with the scam.