Ghaziabad: Three arrested for cheating, forgery in UP Police recruitment drive

Police took cognisance of the matter after forged documents came to fore during document verification/physical standard test in December 2024 and January 2025

Police have arrested three of five suspects who cleared the UP Police’s civil police constable recruitment examination in 2023 but later allegedly submitted forged documents during verification claiming to be dependents of freedom fighters, senior officers said in Ghaziabad on Monday.

Police said the suspects are residents of Meerut and Bulandshahr districts, and the respective authorities in those districts denied having issued these certificates. (Representational image)

The police took cognisance of the matter after the forged documents came to fore during document verification/physical standard test conducted by a committee on different dates in December 2024 and January 2025, officers said.

The verification process was held at the Ghaziabad police lines.

The FIR named five suspects -- Kumari Ruby, Prashant Kumar, Arun Kumar Chauhan, Arjun, and Yogendra Kumar. Police said all suspects are aged between 19-21 years.

SO far, police have arrested Prashant Kumar, Yogendra Kumar, and Chauhan while a search is on to arrest the remaining two suspects.

Police said the suspects are residents of Meerut and Bulandshahr districts, and the respective authorities in those districts denied having issued these certificates.

“The certificates were not issued from the offices of district magistrates in Meerut and Bulandshahr. It is clear that the aspirants tried to gain undue advantage by way of producing forged certificates before the committee, and this is a serious offence,” the police said in the FIR lodged at Kavi Nagar police station.

The FIR was registered on Sunday under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 318(4) (cheating), 336(2) (forgery), 337 (forgery of record of court or of public register), and 340 (forged document or electronic record and using it as genuine).

“The certificates/documents they submitted before the committee seemed suspicious, and inquiry reports from Meerut and Bulandshahr confirmed that these certificates were not issued by the respective offices there. Three of five suspects have been arrested so far. They cleared the initial examinations but they will be barred from the examination process, and legal action initiated. We will also probe how the suspects procured these documents, and whether more people are involved in the crime,” said Swatantra Kumar Singh, assistant commissioner of police, Kavi Nagar.