Exam papers. Representative image.
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The Bengaluru police on Tuesday said that they had busted a fake SSLC and PUC marks cards racket by arresting three culprits.
The suspects were identified as Prashanth Gundumi, 41, from Chaitanya Nagar in Dharwad; Monish KJ, 36, from Banashankari in Bengaluru; and Rajashekhar H, 41, from Vinayaka Nagar in Gadag.
They charged anywhere between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 for providing SSLC and PUC marks cards without any written tests. So far, over 350 such fake marks cards were issued, investigations show.
"Investigations have revealed instances where fake marks cards were used to gain jobs in various government departments," Police Commissioner B Dayananda told a press conference. "In some cases, the documents were also submitted during the passport procedure."
The Bengaluru police's Central Crime Branch (CCB) began the probe after a case was registered where the complainant alleged that his elder brother’s son had received PUC marks cards a few days after getting admission into Mercury Academy Distance Education, a distance learning centre, owned by Monish in Bengaluru.
The marks card, printed in Bengaluru and Dharwad on computers, had “Karnataka State Council of Intermediate and Higher Education” as the issuing authority, which is non-existent, the probe found.
The FIR was registered on December 2, 2024. A team led by Akshay M Hakay, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), investigated the case.
The same day, Monish was arrested by the CCB. His interrogation revealed that Prashanth and Belagavi resident Darshan alias Gopal Shedbalkar, who is at large, were providing the marks cards for SSLC and PUC. Monish confessed to the police that he, so far, obtained fake marks cards for over 25 SSLC and PUC students.
The investigation led the police to arrest Prashanth from Dharwad. Prashanth also operated a learning centre called Sunrise Career Academy in the city's Srinagar area.
“His phone was seized and when accessed, it contained over 300 soft copies of fake marks cards with the dubious issuing authority,” a CCB officer revealed.
The probe further revealed that the Transport Department and other government agencies had written to the suspects to verify the veracity of the marks cards and they had replied that they were genuine. Over 50 documents were also recovered from inspection at Prashanth’s learning centre.
The police also arrested Rajashekhar, who worked at Prashanth’s learning centre on a commission basis. From his phone, over 50 fake marks cards were recovered. “Rajashekhar used to get Rs 250 per student from Prashanth,” an officer said.