Hyderabad: Chaitanyapuri police arrested four people after discovering a bogus educational credential ring. Fake diploma certificates bearing the names of JNTU, Kakatiya, Acharya Nagarjuna University, as well as those from other states’ institutions such as MS Ramaiah University, Anna University, and Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth in Varanasi, were discovered by the police.
When a technical recruiter from Jubilee Hills asked S Lakshmi’s SL Overseas Company in Chaitanyapuri to process his visa for graduation, the situation was brought to light. He sent his intermediate certificate in for processing along with a payment of Rs. 1 lakh in instalments.
He then received further paperwork, among which he unexpectedly discovered a provisional certificate, consolidated memorandum marks, convocations certificate, graduation declaration certificate in his name, and a letter of reference for a master’s degree. It was claimed that Kakatiya University in Warangal had awarded each and every certificate. The four offenders were captured after he went up to the police, who opened an inquiry.
Rachakonda’s Commissioner of Police, Mahesh Bhagwat, said, “The racket targeted students who dream to fly abroad for further studies or for work purposes. It was providing counterfeit certificates to the students in the name of reputed universities. In fact, some universities do not even exist. The gang charges Rs 1 lakh for furnishing one fake certificate.”
According to the Police Commissioner, Vadlamuri Srinivas Rao provides phoney certifications to Consultancy Managing Director Sirisala Lakshmi in exchange for a commission of Rs 20,000 for each certificate. He obtains the bogus certifications from Vadde Rohit Kumar, an IT employee at Critical River IT Solutions in HiTec City. He downloads the certificates with the names of the pupils who require them from web sites using the Adobe Photoshop programme. Each certificate is worth Rs 30,000, which he collects.
Several students are said to have flown to Germany with identical credentials before being apprehended.
In order to take further action, police are now attempting to determine the number of students who obtained phoney certifications from the consultancy and are already employed, as well as those who travelled overseas.
