The Commissioner’s Task Force (South) and Mirchowk police arrested three persons and seized 76 sets or 467 fake educational certificates of various institutes, on Tuesday.
The fake certificates were identical to the ones from Andhra University, Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu State, Anna University, Sikkim State University, Guru Jambheshwar University, Sangam University, University of Madras, OPJS University Churu, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Haryana Council of Open Schooling, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Mahamaya Technical University, Kalinga University, Shivaji University, Vikram Simhapuri University, Singhania University, Bundelkhand University, Chennai Senior Secondary School, National Institute of Open Schooling, Vocational Education Dept, Govt of Uttar Pradesh, and Bharath Sevak Samaj National Development Agency.
The police also seized brochures of various universities, student phone number data, open plot documents, among other material.
Police said the accused person, 33-year-old Vemineni Nagarjuna, of Guntur, had opened his institute ‘Arjuna Academy’, aimed at open schooling and distance-mode examinations, in Hyderabad in 2018. He initially conducted classes for 10th grade and Intermediate students.
The next year, he along with one 40-year-old Gopireddy Jyothi started dealing fake certificates. Another accused Mogulla Naresh Goud, a mediator to get potential customers, had also joined the team.
The organisation grew as tele-callers were hired to contact students, to promise them direct university certificates without any examination. Police said the agents charged customers a hefty sum for the certificates. They had also engaged one Aravind from Kolkata and Chinmai Bishwas from Delhi, for producing such certificates.
All the accused were booked for cheating and forgery. An investigation was opened.
