Two fake degree rackets busted in Punjab

CHANDIGARH - Punjab Police Sunday said they had busted two fake degree rackets and arrested seven people.

In the first incident, two people were arrested late Saturday for providing fake degrees of Jalandhar’s Punjab Technical University (PTU) from Rajpura town of Patiala district, around 45 km from Chandigarh.

“The accused, identified as Manpreet Singh and Taranjit Singh, were providing bachelors and masters degrees of various engineering streams and other disciples. They also had links in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh,” a Patiala police officer said.

Police said they have recovered fake documents, letterheads and stamps from the possession of the accused.

In the second incident, five people were arrested for providing fake IELTS (International English Language Testing System) certificates from Hoshiarpur town.

“We had received a complaint from Dheeraj Kumar, who had allegedly paid Rs.1.5 lakh to the accused for getting an IELTS certificate. One Kamaljot Singh, who is very good in English, had appeared on his behalf in the test and got a good score,” said Senior Superintendent of Police Rakesh Aggarwal, Hoshiarpur, around 120 km from Chandigarh.

“Later, the accused put the photograph and other details of Dheeraj on the certificate by using a scanner. However, this was rejected by the British High Commission. So far, we have arrested five people and have sent a special team to Jalandhar town to arrest the kingpin of this gang,” he added.