The Pune police have busted an alleged racket involving the use of fake sport proficiency certificates to secure government jobs under the sports quota, with two persons arrested in connection with the case, police said on Wednesday.
The accused have been identified as Shivaji Jaywant Salunkhe 46, a resident of Fursungi-Hadapsar and originally hails from Kolhapur, and Ankush Vitthal Nagar 40, currently residing in Chandigarh and originally from Ahilyanagar. Both were arrested on Thursday.
According to the police, the racket came to light during an investigation into a confidential complaint alleging that people were being awarded fake certificates showing proficiency in Kurash despite not having participated in the competitions mentioned in the certificates.
Kurash is an internationally recognised sport and competitions are conducted in Maharashtra under the Kurash Association of Maharashtra. According to police, however, certain individuals allegedly exploited the sports quota system by creating records of competitions that had never taken place and subsequently issuing certificates to candidates showing that they had participated in and excelled in those events.
Police said such certificates were allegedly used to claim the five per cent sports quota reservation in government recruitment.
{{/usCountry}}Police said such certificates were allegedly used to claim the five per cent sports quota reservation in government recruitment.
{{/usCountry}}A confidential application received by the police alleged that fake proficiency certificates were being issued by showing that candidates had participated in state-level Kurash competitions, even though such competitions had not actually been held.
The police investigation allegedly found serious discrepancies in the certificates and supporting documents.
According to police, competitions mentioned as having been held between 2016 and 2019 were allegedly organised by an association that was not affiliated with the Kurash Association of India.
Police also found that signatures on the certificates had allegedly been scanned and reproduced, raising suspicion about their authenticity.
“The office bearers of the Kurash Association of Maharashtra allegedly collected old participation letters, purportedly dating back nine to 10 years, from district-level organisations. These documents were allegedly used to prepare records and submit papers to the sports department showing that competitions had taken place and that the concerned candidates had participated in them,” said an officer who was part of an investigation team.
The police have alleged that the documents were subsequently used to obtain sports proficiency certificates. These certificates were then allegedly used by candidates to claim benefits under the sports quota despite not having actually participated in the competitions.
Pune city police has now been expanded to identify other people allegedly involved in preparing, issuing, submitting or using the fake certificates.