Kanpur (UP), February 19 Police on Thursday busted a fake degree racket spread across nine states and seized nearly 900 forged mark sheets and documents linked to 14 universities, officials said here.
Four persons have also been arrested in connection with the crime.
Commissioner of Police (Kanpur) Raghubir Lal said the accused were running the operation from an office named Shail Group of Education here in Kidwai Nagar. The group allegedly provided academic certificates — from high school (10th) to professional courses such as B Tech, B Pharm and LLB — without candidates appearing in examinations.
Among the forged documents recovered were 357 fake degrees of Chhatrapati Sahu Ji Maharaj University (CSJMU), the highest number linked to any single institution.
Police also seized forged certificates purportedly issued by the UP Board of Secondary Education and several private universities in Uttar Pradesh and other states.
According to the police, the alleged kingpin, Shailendra Kumar (36), an MSc graduate and mathematics teacher, initially helped students fill out private examination forms before expanding into the fake degree trade.
He allegedly built a network of university clerks and employees who supplied original mark sheets and certificates on demand.
The syndicate charged Rs 50,000 for high school and intermediate (12th) certificates, up to Rs 75,000 for graduation degrees, Rs 1.5 lakh for B Tech and LLB, and up to Rs 2.5 lakh for B Pharm and D Pharm qualifications — all without examinations, Commissioner Lal told