SPPU fake degree connection traced to Thane, Pune police handover probe to Thane police

Pune University's bogus degree certificate traced to Thane, case filed against student. Pune police hand over investigation to Thane police. TET scam method suspected.

PUNE: The connection of the Savitribai Phule Pune University’s (SPPU’s) bogus degree certificate has been traced to Thane, and the university has filed a case against the concerned student with the Chaturshringi police. Also, the Pune police have handed over investigation of the crime to the Thane police. However, according to university officials, the concerned student in his statement has said that his degree was available on a website. Therefore, it is suspected that the method used for the TET scam is being used for the bogus degree certificate of the SPPU as well.

According to university officials, the concerned student in his statement has said that his degree was available on a website. (HT PHOTO)

As per the information shared by the SPPU administration, Dnyaneshwar Salunke, the officer of SPPU’s examination department, has filed a complaint with the Chaturshringi police in the bogus degree certificate case. As both the crime scene and the perpetrator are from Thane, the Pune police have registered the case at Kapurwadi police station in Thane city.

The certificate of the student in question - Vaibhav Jadhav - came to the university for verification through a private company. All the documents submitted by him at that time were found to be bogus. Therefore, the director of the examination and evaluation board of the university, Mahesh Kakade, filed a complaint with the police after permission from the university administration. If the university takes its own initiative and files a case, the fake degree racket may be busted.

In the TET scam, candidates were given fake certificates as well. Also, the relevant certificates were uploaded on a fake website. Therefore, many people believed that the certificates they received were genuine. It is likely that the same method was used for the bogus university degrees at SPPU. Whereas according to the information shared by Vaibhav Jadhav with the university authorities, he could see his degree on a website. So, who gave this bogus degree to Vaibhav and how many such students including Vaibhav have been allotted bogus degrees will be revealed only after the police investigation.

Meanwhile, it has been found that Vaibhav Jadhav works with IndusInd Bank. The bank had sent his documents to Kataria College in Daund and the SPPU for verification. Both had informed that these documents were bogus. However, Vaibhav claimed that his documents were genuine in front of the university authorities.

“Not only the degree certificate, Vaibhav Jadhav had bogus marksheets of all three years. The university has registered a case against the concerned student as the bogus degree is being given in the name of the university. A thorough investigation will be conducted by the university,” said Mahesh Kakade.