Nagpur: State home minister Anil Deshmukh on Saturday assured that strict legal actions had been initiated against the racketeers involved in issuing fake sports certificates for government jobs. Deshmukh said such complaints had surfaced in Nagpur, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara.
Referring to the case registered in Nagpur (Mankapur police station in September), Deshmukh said eight arrests were made already. “A thorough probe would take place into the scam, unearthing its every detail, like how the certificates were prepared and procured. On the basis of these fake certificates, candidates have been selected for senior-level posts like block education officer, inspector and sub-inspector,” said the state home minister.
Deshmukh said Aurangabad police had also received around 300 complaints, following which it had kicked off a strong probe. “We were receiving several complaints regarding the fake certificate racket,” he said.
Maharashtra government has reserved five per cent jobs for sportspersons since 2005. It’s learnt that three FIRs have been registered across the state so far (Nagpur, Aurangabad and Kolhapur).
Police inspector Krushna Shinde of Mankapur police said the ninth scamster (Kalyan Murkute) had been arrested from Gangakhed in Parbhani on Friday. “This scam began in Nagpur in 2016-17, when the deputy director got the power to issue the sports certificate. Around 26 beneficiaries of the Nagpur-based rackets are under the scanner, which includes government officials already selected on the basis of the fake certificates,” he said.
“Most of the fake certificate holders have paid hefty amounts and had never played such games for which they got the job,” said Shinde.