Admission racket: Another clerk held by Mumbai Police; four arrested so far

Representational Pic/File

An another clerk was arrested on Friday in connection with the Mumbai admission racket, taking the total number of people held so far to four, a Mumbai Police official said on Friday, reported the PTI.

The other three persons arrested for alleged involvement in the irregularities are also clerks at an institution, the official added.

"Pandit Ramesh Karanke (42) was deputed at the admission guidance centre at Ghatkopar East. He was tasked with verifying documents of students. He is accused of authenticating forged marksheets of students sent by co-accused clerk Arjun Rathod," the official said, as per the PTI.

MTP conducts workshop for BEST drivers after Kurla accident

1 hour agoWEBSTORY

Karanke was remanded in five-day police custody by a local court, the police official said, the news agency reported.

Earlier, the Tilak Nagar Police in eastern suburbs of Mumbai had uncovered a college admission racket allegedly involving two senior clerks of a college, an official had said on Monday.

As part of their duties during the admission process, undertaken by the School Education and Sports Department of the Maharashtra Government for the class 11 centralised online admission process 2024-25, the duo, allegedly using their fraudulent ideas, tweaked the merit percentage of low-scoring students and uploaded forged marksheet and leaving certificates (LC) to the government's website, the police had earlier said.

The third accused in the case, who assisted the first two accused in filing the admission forms that students are required to submit and upload on the government website after their results are announced, an official had said.

"There are two forms students are supposed to fill and upload - one before their results and the other after. In the second form, students mention their scores, preferred colleges, etc. Sadaye helped the two clerks by providing forged marks and percentages to ensure the applications fit within the colleges' cut-off criteria," said a police official.

The matter first came to light on Monday during the admission process when the college administration noticed irregularities in the marks of some students.

They reported the issue to the State Education Department, whose technical team flagged discrepancies in the authenticity of the documents uploaded on the website.

The college management uncovered fraudulent activity in the admission procedure following an internal assessment and immediately alerted the Tilak Nagar Police that registered an FIR in the matter and investigations led to the arrest of the accused.

(with PTI inputs)