Five arrested after police in Kolkata unearth educational certificate scam

The police unearthed an educational certificate scam in the city and arrested five persons from the metropolis and its adjacent areas, police said on Saturday  “Acting on a tip-off, we arrested the five yesterday,” a senior officer of the Kolkata police said.

“The accused used to run an educational institute named ‘Jayashree Academy’ at Behala, in south west Kolkata. They lured students that the institute would arrange for ‘cheap and affordable’ degrees, certificates and diplomas from various boards and universities across the country,” he said.

They also claimed to be authorised agents of Bharat University, Bundelkhand University, Kanpur University, Karnataka State Open University, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Binanayak Mission University, Bihar Board and the Jharkhand Intermediate Council in West Bengal, he said. Besides this, the accused had declared the institution to be an authorised ‘Learning Center’ by using forged signatures and fake rubber stamps of recognised educational institutions, the officer said.

The accused had promised to arrange a degree for a complainant through distance education in exchange of Rs 25,000, the officer said. “Initially a payment of Rs 5000 was made for the purpose. But not even a single class was arranged for the complainant. Instead, the accused started claiming an additional Rs 10,000 as examination fee and charge for the certificates,” he said. The director of the institute was the kingpin of the entire racket, the officer said. The educational institution was raided yesterday during which blank marksheets, certificates, admit cards, pass certificates of various universities, boards, rubber stamps in the name of the offices of Controller of Examinations of various universities, boards and hard-discs were seized, he said.