Mumbai Police arrested two employees of KJ Somaiya College in Vidyavihar and another person on Monday for allegedly running a cash racket for admissions in three colleges of Somaiya Vidyavihar University with the help of three outsiders.
According to the complaint filed by the Principal of KJ Somaiya College of Arts and Commerce, Dr. Kishan Pawar, the accused cheated 50 students by using forged and forged marksheets and school leaving certificates.
The admission fraud was detected in three colleges under Somaiya Vidyavihar University KJ Somaiya College of Arts and Commerce, KJ Somaiya College of Science and Commerce and SK Somaiya Vinay Mandir Junior College.
49-year-old Mahendra Vishnu Patil has been arrested. Arjun Vasaram Rathore, 43; and Devendra Sayade, 55. Patil serves as a clerk at SK Somaiah Vinay Mandir Junior College, while Rathod is a clerk at KJ Somaiah College of Arts and Commerce.
Navnath Dhawale, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 6, told The Indian Express, “The college administration detected cheating in the admission process and registered a complaint with us. After proper verification, we registered an FIR and arrested three people. “
Three other suspects involved in the racket, Kamlesh Bhai, Jitu Bhai and Babu Bhai, are currently wanted, and the police are looking for them. The police said that the accused made fake documents to make the students eligible for admission.
The racket facilitated admissions for 50 students, mostly from boards like CBSE, IB, ICSE, and IGCSE. The selection of these boards was strategic, as their data is entered manually during the online admission process, unlike in the case of state boards, where the data is automatically retrieved from the system, a police source said.
According to the complaint, the fraud was going on since June. The accused identified three students who were not named in the merit list, contacted them and their parents and offered guaranteed admission in return for a substantial fee. “The accused claimed that they were giving admission through ‘management quota’ and took payment only after the admission was secured,” police sources said.
For the 2024-25 academic year, admissions for Class 11 ended on September 25, 2024.
Somaiya Vidyavihar University said in a statement, “SK Somaiya Vinay Mandir Madhyamik and Junior College, KJ Somaiya College of Science and Commerce, and KJ Somaiya College of Arts and Commerce found discrepancies in some admission documents during routine review. After confirming the discrepancy, we immediately contacted the concerned We have reported the matter to the authorities. With the help of the Directorate of Education, we have taken swift action to cancel these fake admissions.”
The scam surfaces during Marksheet’s scrutiny
The scam came to light during the verification of mark sheets and leaving certificates for Class 11 admissions for 2024-25. After it was discovered that some students had submitted forged and fake documents, Dr. Pawar constituted an inquiry committee to check the question papers of students from boards other than the state board.
“During the investigation, the committee found that 24 students in KJ Somaiya College of Arts and Commerce had admitted to Class 11 using fake Class 10 mark sheets and forged leaving certificates,” the FIR said.
Similarly, 17 students have taken admission in SK Somaiya Vinaya Mandir Madhyamik Vidyalaya and Junior College by fraud and 9 students have taken admission in KJ Somaiya College of Science and Commerce.
In the name of ‘Management Quota’
When confronted by the college administration, the parents of these students said that the accused Mahendra Patil, Arjun Rathod, Kamlesh Bhai, Jitu Bhai and Babu Bhai offered admission under “management quota” for a fee.
According to the police, they are taking advantage of the weakness of the online admission system of the students of other boards and taking about three lakh rupees for each admission.
“The accused used to keep the system-generated login ID and password, allowing them to upload fake marksheets on the portal https://mumbai.11thadmission.org.in/ and secure admissions by leaving certificates,” Dr Pawar said in his police statement. statement.
“We suspect that the accused may have helped other students to get fraudulent admissions in the past as well, and we will investigate the matter thoroughly. Such malpractices cause injustice to deserving students,’ said DCP Dhawale.
Dr Pawar did not respond to phone calls made by The Indian Express.
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