UP univ’s chancellor, registrar among 3 held in degree scam

Jaipur: Police's special operations group (SOG) busted yet another private university linked to the paper leak mafia Saturday. Following last year's crackdown on Churu-based OPJS University, which led to arrest of 13 people, including its owner and registrar, SOG has now arrested JS University chancellor Sukesh Kumar, who also serves as principal of a govt college in Agra, registrar Nandan Mishra, and Jaipur-based middleman with alleged links to paper leak gangs, Ajay Bharadwaj.
The university, based in Uttar Pradesh's Shikohabad, allegedly issued backdated and fake degrees to thousands of candidates in various courses, particularly those appearing for Physical Education Teachers Recruitment Exam-2022, in Rajasthan.
ADG SOG VK Singh said it was discovered that JS University issued fraudulent Bachelor of Physical Education (BPED) degrees to hundreds of candidates. Among those arrested, Bharadwaj was already implicated in the OPJS University case, where thousands of fake degrees were issued for multiple courses.
"Of the 5,390 candidates shortlisted for the Physical Education Teachers Recruitment Exam-2022, 254 held degrees from JS University. Discrepancies were found in 108 cases where the roll numbers and admission years did not match. In another 29 instances, candidates initially mentioned a different university while applying for the exam but later listed JS University during the verification process," Singh said.
Police found that 107 shortlisted candidates claimed to have obtained their BPED degrees in 2022. However, JS University was only authorised to enrol 100 students in that academic year, raising suspicions. All 107 candidates were Rajasthan residents, and their unanimous selection was flagged as a major red flag for the SOG. During the probe, police discovered that JS University was named after Chancellor Sukesh Kumar's father, Jagdish Singh, and operated primarily as a hub for issuing fraudulent degrees. The investigation further revealed that Bharadwaj and his associates were planning to establish two additional private universities—Eklavya Tribal University in Dungarpur and Anant International University in Meghalaya—to expand their fraudulent activities. The trio was produced in a court that sent them to judicial custody till March 12.