The Kukatpally Housing Board Colony police and the Madhapur Special Operations Team arrested 11 members of a gang and busted a fake educational certificates racket.
The inter-State gang was in preparation of SSC, intermediate, degree, post-graduation and B. Tech course certificates, reportedly involving official seal and formats of 18 universities spread in 13 States.
Cyberabad police commissioner M.S. Raveendra disclosing details to mediapersons on Friday said his teams were able to nab the organised gang based on a complaint by a job seeker.
One Venkateshwar Rao of West Godavari who had come to Hyderabad in search of job based on his Intermediate qualification was suggested by the hostel warden Krishnakanth Reddy to pay ₹90,000 and was provided degree certificates from Chowdary Charan Singh University, Meerut.
The racket was uncovered after police questioned the warden and the main accused Kota Kishore.
It was found that Kishore, who had been a teacher before the COVID-19 pandemic, took the illegal business as he lost his job. In 2020, he started Kampus Services in Vijayawada, learnt about one-sitting courses online, and got in touch with Sanjay Varma, Rahul Gosh and Prathima Patil of West Bengal for preparing the certificates.
The police have identified seven beneficiaries of Kishore and suspect that there are nearly a hundred of them who paid ₹1.50 lakh and upwards for the fake certificates.
Mr. Raveendra said his teams have seized eight sets of original certificates from the beneficiaries, about 70 sets of fake certificates, blank certificates, logos and seals, among other material.
All the accused were booked for cheating, forgery and related violations.
