BJP demands CBI probe into fake certificate racket in Odisha’s Balangir
Sources said that the accused persons were charging between Rs 50,000 and Rs 5 lakh for the fake certificates. The racket operated from a private coaching centre in Balangir is likely to have spread to other districts in the state.
Balangir: Days after police arrested as many as 19 persons in connection with the fake academic certificate racket in Odisha’s Balangir district, the BJP has raised allegations on the government’s complicity and demanded a CBI probe into the scam.
Lashing out at the BJD-ruled government, the BJP’s State president Manmohan Samal urged for a detailed CBI probe into the racket and stringent action against all the accused.
“This racket has put the careers of so many students at stake but the Government is acting blind, deaf and dumb in the entire situation. The accused are playing with the future of youths but the racket has escaped the attention of the Government for so long. If this is not complicity, what is? How can a Government with 25 agencies under its aegis not be aware of a fraud that has been active on such a massive scale and for such a long period?? This can happen only when BJD leaders are themselves involved,” Samal claimed.
He further went to say that no one is above law, not even Ministers or the Government and anyone found guilty or having connection to the scam must be brought to book. “Is the BJD considering itself to be the Almighty? How can the party be insulated from the consequences of a racket that has been playing with the lives of so many youths?,” he asked, adding that the party will soon meet the fate of
Last week, Crime Branch of Odisha Police had stated that it will soon form multiple teams to investigate the fake academic certificate racket in Balangir which seems to have intrastate and interstate ramifications.
The racket had come to the fore after one Rajat Kumar Nayak of Chandatora under Sindhekela police limits had alleged that he had paid Rs 5 lakh to mastermind Manoj Mishra and his aide Aloka Ugata who had promised him a job in lieu of the money.
Manoj, owner of Reliance Educational Complex in Balangir from where the racket was operating, and Aloka had asked Nayak to apply for the Gramin Dak Sevak (GDS) post in February this year and offered him a Class-X certificate of Madhyamik Sikshya Parishad, Uttar Pradesh. Nayak applied for the job but he, later, came to know that the academic certificate provided by Mishra and Ugata was a fake one. He had lodged a complaint in this regard with Balangir Town Police Station.
Meanwhile, the Crime Branch had started probe as Division Superintendent of Post Offices Rajendra Kumar Pattanayak had earlier lodged a police complaint in connection with the alleged submission of fake certificates by some aspirants for the posts of GDS. Of the 60 aspirants, at least 38 have submitted Class X certificates obtained from Board of High School and Intermediate Education/Madhyamik Sikshya Parishad of Uttar Pradesh. These certificates appear to be fake ones, Pattanayak had said in his complaint.
After the cheating case filed by Nayak, a five-member team of the Crime Branch led by DSP Debabrata Chakra began investigation during which it was found that the fake certificate racket was being operated from Reliance Educational Complex at Patnagarh Road in Balangir.
On the basis of the prima facie evidence, police arrested 19 persons, including Mishra and Ugata besides seizing Rs 3.67 lakh, four computers, one laptop, three printers, marksheets of at least 41 universities across the country, a scanner, a Xerox machine, several other equipment, 5-6 land documents and fake rubber stamps of rubber stamps of 27 officials in ranks of joint director, project director and tehsildar, from the accused persons.
“Based on a report received from the Superintendent of Balangir Post Office on fake certificate scam, we collected further information and registered a case under sections 467, 468, 471, 34 of IPC. During investigation, we raided Reliance Education Institute and seized around 5000 fake certificates, which were appearing as original. In this connection, we arrested 19 persons,” informed Balangir Superintendent of Police Kusalkar Nitin Dagudu.
Sources said that the accused persons were charging between Rs 50,000 and Rs 5 lakh for the fake certificates. The racket operated from a private coaching centre in Balangir is likely to have spread to other districts in the state.
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