Fake certificate racket unearthed

By Our Staff Reporter

NIZAMABAD, JUNE 30. The district police have unearthed a fake certificate making unit by arresting four persons allegedly involved in the clandestine business of supplying fake degree and post-graduation certificates of various universities.

Three persons from Guntur and one from Dichpalli were taken into custody. One Wipro personal computer system connected with laser- 6 L printer and 20 floppy disks, duplicate stamps of Andhra university (one with the Andhra university emblem and another that of the controller of examinations) were recovered. Some stationery used for producing certificates was also seized.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, the Superintendent of police, Dr. Ravi Shankar Ayyanar, said the police zeroed on this gang by arresting Bantupalli Narayana Yadav, resident of Guntur town, believed to be the key person in the business. The modus operandi adopted by Narayan Yadav was that whenever a candidate approached him for any certificate, he used to first scan the format of that certificate in the computer with the help of one Gollapudi Satyavara Prasad, resident of Guntur and a computer programmer.

After the certificate format is prepared, he used to fill up the entries of the candidate by seeking the help of Korrapati Nageswara Rao, also resident of Guntur, who owns an electronic typewriter. Some entries were also made with the pen and the signature of the controller of examinations was forged and a fake stamp of the authority would also be stamped on the certificate.

Narayan Yadav resided in Dichpalli for five years during which period he met K. Nagendra Prasad, resident of Dichpalli, who used to get him customers for the fake certificates. The gang was successful in selling over 200 to 300 certificates of B.Ed, B.A., M.Sc, M.C.A. and polytechnic of Andhra university, Nagarjuna university, Osmania university and Bharatiyar university and also the school of correspondence of Andhra university. The certificates issued included provisional certificates, memorandum of marks, migration certificates to transfer certificates.

The accused confessed that they used to sell each certificate for Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 15,000. Of this, Satyavara Prasad used to get Rs. 50 to Rs. 200 per certificate while Nageswara Rao was given Rs. 50. The gang was also printing and supplying fake kerosene PDS issue slips in the name of the Civil Supplies Deputy Tahsildar (CSDT), Revenue Inspector and RDO, Guntur for the last six months colluding with a PDS dealer of kerosene. For every slip printed, a cash profit of Rs. 10 was given to the gang.

The gang also confessed that one person had even approached them for issue of a MBBS certificate for which an amount of Rs. 70,000 was demanded. The deal, however, could not materialise, they added.

Murder accused held

The SP also paraded before the newsmen five youths who murdered a cycle shop employee of the town in Nanded of Maharashtra.

The five accused - Khaja, Syed Shakeel, Feroz, Jameel and Rafeeq - told reporters how they had hatched the plan to kill the employee, Dayanand, who used to collect dues for this shop owner in Nanded town. They said they met Dayanand in Nanded town, and lured him to accompany them back to Nizamabad. Near the Nanded bus station, they threw chilli powder in his eyes, then put a towel across his neck and hit him with a boulder. They took away Rs. 60,000 which the deceased was carrying.

They returned to Nizamabad the same day but the One Town SI, Mr. E. Chandrasekhar Goud, who took up the investigation, apprehended the accused within 24 hours. The SP said the SI would be rewarded suitably for apprehending the accused within hours. They also confessed to having snatched cash from some businessmen of Armoor and Nizamabad town on an earlier occasion. They said they used to keep a watch on business persons coming to the banks and hatched a conspiracy to loot them. On several occasions they succeeded in the effort as no complaint was lodged with the police.

The Additional SP, Mr. K. Raja Ravindra Reddy, Armoor ASP, Mr. Madhusudan Reddy, Bheemgal CI, Mr. Venkateswarulu, Kammarpalli SI, Mr. Purshottam and Nizamabad one town SI, Mr. Chandrasekhar Goud, were present, at the press meet.

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