The Delhi Police on Friday unearthed a fake education board that had been running under the name of Board of Higher Secondary Education (BHSE) in north-east Delhi’s Shahdara since 2012.
The police has arrested six people, including its ‘chairman’ Shiv Prasad Pandey (62), who is an ayurvedic doctor. The website of the BHSE claims that more than 300 schools across India are affiliated to it. The gang has provided fake degrees and mark sheets to over 17,000 people, the police said.
The police said that a woman filed a complaint against the BHSE for providing her a fake mark sheet.
When the investigation officer tried to verify the credentials of the BHSE from the Ministry of Human Resources Development and the Education Department, they were found to be fake.
Spread across India
“A team was formed for detailed investigation as the gang was operating from several States. We arrested Parshant Solanki, who works as a computer operator in the board. He had given the fake mark sheet to the complainant.,” said Nupur Prasad, DCP (Shahdara).
During interrogation, Mr. Solanki said he used to get the fake mark sheets from one Baljeet Singh.
Mr. Singh, the director of the board, was arrested from Burari. The police said that Mr. Singh had taken over after Mange Ram Acharya, the original mastermind of the racket, was arrested in a case in Rajasthan.
Based on information from Mr. Singh, a raid was conducted at the office of the board in Vikaspuri where Altaf Raza, Ramdev Sharma and Lakhshya Rathore were arrested. “The arrested gang members revealed that the mastermind was the chairman of the board, Mr. Pandey, who operates from Lucknow. Mr. Pandey was then arrested from Lucknow,” said Ms. Prasad.
Revealing the modus operandi of the gang, the police said that the board would issue ads in local newspapers offering people an ‘opportunity’ to earn a Class X or XII certificate.
Targeted private schools
They also advertised vacancies for board staff.
The gang also targeted private schools looking for affiliation. The board set up a website that claimed it had 250-300 schools affiliated to it to portray credibility.
The board would direct the school to go to the website. The board charged ₹10,000-₹50,000 as affiliation charges. Private schools in Punjab, Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra were charged up to ₹2 lakh for affiliation.
The police said that the board’s website also had a fee structure for getting mark sheets. The gang could prepare a fake mark sheet or certificate within an hour.
People got jobs, passports
During interrogation, Mr. Pandey said that in 2012 more than 5,000 candidates were given fake mark sheets. On the basis of these certificates, the people obtained passports from the Regional Passport Office in Lucknow, UP, and procured overseas jobs. Investigation on this aspect of the scam is going on.
Further, several persons are already employed in various government departments such as the UP Police, Railways, Post Office, Army and paramilitary, etc. “The gang has a vast network that is spread all over India and the possibility of connivance of the officials of the Education Department and other government departments cannot be ruled out. Investigation is going on to uncover any role of government officials in the fake board,” said Ravindra Yadav, Joint Commissioner of Police (Eastern Range).
Total no. of affiliated schools: more than 300
Affiliation charges
Rs 10,000 up to class V
Rs 21,000 for up to class VIII
Rs 51,000 for up to class XII
In case of Punjab, Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra, the affiliation charges were up to Rs 2.5 lakh
Mark sheets for sale
Total mark sheets issued: more than 17,000
Rs 5,000-8,000 for class X and XII mark sheet
Rs 50,000 for graduation mark sheet
