College admissions scam: Two clerks, aide arrested for forging documents

The Somaiya Vidyavihar University campus. Pic/Rajesh Gupta

The Tilak Nagar police have arrested two senior clerks from Somaiya Vidyavihar University who allegedly forged documents for at least 49 students seeking admission to Std XI at SK Somaiya College, KJ Somaiya College and SK Somaiya Vidyamandir School. The accused - Mahendra Vishnu Patil, 45, of SK Somaiya College and Arjun Rathod, 43, of KJ Somaiya College - have been employed by the varsity for over two decades, according to the police.

While carrying out their duties during the admission process, Patil and Rathod allegedly tweaked the grades of low-scoring students and uploaded forged marksheets and leaving certificates (LCs) to the government's website. Another accused, Devendra Suryakanth Sadaye, 55, allegedly assisted the duo in filing admission forms that students are required to submit and upload on the government website after their results are announced.

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

The matter first came to light two months ago during the admission process when the college administration noticed irregularities in some students' marks. They reported the issue to the State Education Department, whose technical team flagged discrepancies in the authenticity of the documents uploaded on the website. An internal assessment by the scrutiny committee subsequently uncovered fraudulent activity in the admission process.

Following this, Dr Kishan H Pawar, principal of KJ Somaiya College and the complainant in the case registered at Tilak Nagar police station, summoned all the parents and students whose names were linked to forged documents via email on October 15.

During the scrutiny process, the documents submitted on Somaiya College's website and those on the state government's website were flagged as "Fake Marksheet Confirmed Case with Eligibility Check," stated the FIR. The FIR further mentions that students who scored below 60 per cent in Std 10 had forged documents reflecting scores of over 90 per cent.

‘Process cost Rs 1 lakh'

While some parents appeared before the college authorities to explain themselves, they revealed the names of those involved in the fraud - Patil and Rathod - along with unidentified individuals referred to as Kamlesh Bhai, Jitu Bhai and Babu Bhai, who had been in constant contact with the parents, either outside the college campus or via phone calls. The police have launched a manhunt to look for the unknown accused.

A parent told mid-day that after she and her son completed the form submission formalities, they were approached by a group of four to five men outside the college campus, including Patil. "They asked if we wanted admission through the management quota. When I informed them about my son's percentage, Patil assured me it could be ‘managed' but would cost some money. I trusted him because he said I would only need to pay once the admission was secured. I did as instructed, forwarding any OTPs we received to him," she said, adding that the rate for the entire process was set at R1 lakh.

A police officer said, "When Form 2 is verified by the admission portal and the college's website, a registered parent's number receives an OTP, which must be submitted to lock the form and complete the submission for further processing. In this college, the two accused were responsible for managing this activity instead of the parents."

The officer added, "The motive was financial gain, as the clerks charged no less than a lakh per student. What must also be considered is the parents' willingness to participate in this scheme, driven by their desire to secure admissions for their children in prestigious colleges."

As per information received from the police, all the students whose documents turned out to be forged are from non-state boards as state board students only need to enter their seat numbers in the admission form after which the system automatically pulls up their marks, which is not the case with non-state board applicants who have to fill a variety of details like marks.

‘Zero tolerance for fraud'

The spokesperson of the Somaiya Trust stated that the institute authorities registered the FIR on Monday and that the irregularities were during a routine review. "We had approached the police after anomalies were identified in specific admission documents during our routine verification process. Once the discrepancies were confirmed, we promptly notified the authorities and contacted the police. With the Directorate of Education's guidance and support, we annulled the fraudulent admissions."

"Somaiya Vidyavihar maintains a zero-tolerance stance on fraudulent activities and assures everyone that these actions were carried out in compliance with the guidelines set forth by the Directorate of Education to safeguard the integrity of the admission process," the institution's spokesperson stated. All three have been booked for multiple offences, including cheating, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.