Fake certificates racket kingpin says he started out on the trade after a close associate was denied admission due to the quota system
Fake certificates racket kingpin says he started out on the trade after a close associate was denied admission due to the quota system
Himanshu Gupta, the kingpin of the gang who produced fake caste certificates, had hit on the idea three years back after one of his best friends was denied admission by a college of the Delhi University. "My friend was a victim of the quota system. So I started making forge caste certificates to help the aspiring students," Himanshu said during interrogation, according to a senior police official.
Time's up: The three accused who were arrested for helping students
get admission in Delhi University by selling them fake certificates.
pic/Mid day
The accused said that his friend was asked to bring a sports certificate for admission in a DU college. As the friend did not have the certificate, Himanshu arranged a fake one for Rs 5 lakh and got his admission done. Since then he has been in the business of selling fake certificates.
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The Crime Branch will conduct raids in Ghaziabad to nab Himanshu's aide Satish. Satish usually makes fake caste and sports certificates for the Uttar Pradesh's colleges, said police. On Saturday, the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police had arrested three persons, Himanshu (26), Vikash (24) and Ketan Gupta (24) for producing fake caste certificates and helping at least 12 students get admission in top notch colleges of DU. They used to take Rs 3-5 lakh for each admission. Police recovered 12 fake caste certificates, admission forms and two cars from their possession.u00a0
Where they met
"Ketan introduced Satish to Himanshu around three years ago. Satish operates from Ghaziabad.u00a0 He is friend of Vikas and joined the gang after he met Himanshu," said a police official. Himanshu was arrested outside Hansraj College of the North Campus where he had gone to get a girl's admission done. The girl had scored 91 per cent in her board examination. A bank draft for the girl's enrollment and a fake Gujjar caste certificate were recovered from them. "He has helped around 30 students to get admission so far. We will call them and take necessary actions," said the official.
On the job
In an investigation done in 2009 MiD DAY reporter Amit Singh procured a counterfeit marksheet and got the offer letter too. He skimmed through the by lanes of South Delhi's crowded Munirka market and found his way into a tiny shop tucked away in a corner Sonu Cyber Cafe one of the many operators of the Capital's flourishing counterfeit certificate business. The reporter was warmly welcomed by two smartly dressed men in twenties and promised, "whatever he wanted". "No haggling please, it's a risky business," they said.Within minutes they told us they could give us what we needed to land a job: a provisional certificate of graduation and a Final Year university marksheet. The next afternoon, we arrived at the shop and within minutes became a Khalsa College (evening) passout with an aggregate score of 55 per cent in Commerce. All we had to produce were a forged electricity bill as residential proof and a phony reference.u00a0 The bill: a meager Rs 3,500. Armed with the counterfeits, the reporter approached a leading South Delhi placement firm to find me a job with a BPO. The company's experts examined the curriculum vitae and certificates and the reporter passed the test with flying colours. No attestations asked for, no crosschecks run. Within a few days, he received a call from an executive of the placement firm, asking him to report for a screening test at one of the country's most reputed IT firms with its office at Okhla Phase III. (The name of the IT company is being withheld on request). After a series of language, aptitude and other tests, the reporter was chosen from a list of 70 other candidates. Even the interviewing board at the company did not bother to verify the authenticity of what was conveniently presented before them. A day later, he effortlessly cleared the second round of interview too. After two days, the reporter attended the firm's induction session and was handed over the appointment letter with the post of associate customer executive and a salary package of Rs 1,73,500 per annum (including incentives).
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