Fake Class 10 certificate racket busted, 4 held

Following an investigation that was on for over two months, which involved a dummy buyer of the certificate, the police have arrested four persons. The investigation so far suggests that at least 35 persons have been issued such fraudulent certificates through the alleged racket that the four suspects and their accomplices were operating. The probe has revealed that the suspects were issuing certificates of an entity called the ‘Maharashtra State Open School.’

In February, the crime branch started working on an input received by Assistant Commissioner of Police Narayan Shirgaonkar that a man identified as Sandeep Kamble from Sangli had been selling Class 10 pass certificates to people who have failed or not appeared for the exam, in return for money. A dummy buyer posing as a Class 5 failed person was sent to him showing interest in purchasing. The suspect told him he would charge Rs 60,000 for a certificate.

On February 9, the suspect received Rs 39,000 from the dummy buyer in an online transfer. The suspect later said that the issuing of the certificate will be delayed because of the ongoing board exams in the state. On April 10, the suspect took Rs 16,000 in cash from the dummy buyer during a meeting in Swargate area and on April 25 the suspect sent the dummy buyer a soft copy of a pass certificate, an officer who is part of the probe said. On April 30, the suspect Kamble was placed under arrest when he was caught red-handed while giving the certificate to a dummy buyer and taking the remaining amount of Rs 5,000.

In the investigation, Kamble said he had taken the fake certificate from suspects based in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, (previously Aurangabad) and Dharashiv (previously Osmanabad). On Tuesday, the police arrested Krushna Sonaji Giri, Altaf Shaikh and Sayyed Imran Sayyed Ibrahim, taking the number of arrests in the case to four.

ACP Narayan Shirgaonkar, who is investigating the case, said, “Probe suggests that the suspects have till now given
Class 10 pass certificates to at least 35 people in this manner. We are probing how these suspects were distributing the certificates of the entity named Maharashtra State Open School. We are also investigating whether the website of this entity is genuine or not.”

The website of the Maharashtra State Open School says that the entity is registered at an address in Chikalthana area of Aurangabad (now Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar). The ‘about us’ page of the website said that “Maharashtra State Open School is a brand of MSO School Foundation, an autonomous body constituted to regulate academic courses, computer education.”

Also Read

In the heart of Pune city, a block that chokes all visitors

75 yrs of NDA: Two Super Dimona aircraft take off at AFTT

Arun Gandhi, social activist, writer and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, dies...

Maharashtra: Gang issuing fake Class X certificates busted, 4 arrested

Anuradha Oak, Secretary, Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, said that Maharashtra State Open School is not linked to the board. She said that further comment can be made only after investigation in the matter.