13 fake admissions detected in Venky, 3 arrested

Raj Shekhar

The crime branch of Delhi Police has detected a large-scale admission scam in some DU colleges of south campus. An initial probe, it is claimed, has found 10 fake admissions in Sri Venkateswara College this year and three last year. The cops have found that ARSD College, Dhaula Kuan, has also been targeted with one fake admission detected so far. This brings the number of such admissions to 14 and this could be just the tip of the iceberg.

Additional commissioner (crime) Ashok Chand said a team, led by ACP KPS Malhotra, has arrested three people in this connection. The kingpin has been identified as Arvind Yadav (28), a Hindu College graduate and a resident of Gurgaon, and the two others as Mukesh Maan (19) and Daya Ram (36) from Bulandshahr.

Maan is a second-year Venkateswara College student who had, according to the cops, got admission last year through fake documents and later became a member of the gang. Daya Ram was a teacher at a private school in Bulandshahr and joined the gang to make a fast buck. He arranged the forged documents for students, police said.

“These crooks used various forged certificates like marksheets, cast certificates, character and transfer certificates and physical disability certificates to facilitate admission. The colleges where these fake admissions have taken place have been asked to hand over the certificates and other documents of these students and these are being scrutinized,” Chand said.

Police said the gang demanded anything between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh for an admission, depending on the profile and chosen subject of the student. They guaranteed admissions in all courses.

DCP (crime) Bhisham Singh said his team had received inputs about a suspect involved in fake admissions coming to Dwarka and a special team, comprising ACP Malhotra, inspector PC Yadav and others, laid a trap. “The man, identified as Arvind Yadav, was apprehended while he was travelling in his Ford Endeavour. Forged documents and the forged stamp of a doctor of a government hospital were recovered from him. A case was registered at the crime branch and investigations launched,” Singh said.

Yadav allegedly disclosed that he had set up a transport business after his graduation from a Delhi University college. “However, the earnings were not enough to fund his lavish lifestyle. Being a former DU student, he was aware of the loopholes in the admission process. He roped in Daya Ram to arrange for documents and certificates and began the racket,” Chand said.

In 2013, Yadav allegedly got three students admitted on the basis of the forged documents in Venkateswara College. This included the admission of one of their present associate, Mukesh Maan. Yadav then led the crime branch team to Daya Ram and Maan. A laptop and a printer were recovered from them.

Their call records and phonebook are being scrutinized. All those who were in touch with the accused frequently will be asked to join the investigations. The college authorities are also going to be questioned, said the police. The contacts of Daya Ram who helped him forge documents and the ones who brought the candidates to the gang are yet to be caught.

“We first want to ascertain if any college official was involved in the racket. Ten admissions just this year is a large number to manage without any insider involvement it would seem. The fact that Maan managed to be in the college without any hassles and stayed till second year is intriguing,” said a senior cop.

The principal of Venkateswara College, P Hemlata Reddy, told TOI: “We do not know whether (these are) fake admissions or not. The crime branch wants a few documents and we have provided them. The police will give further details.”

Source: indiatimes