Odisha Fake Certificate Racket: Forgery Surfaces In Balangir PACS Office

Balangir: As the fake certificate racket continues to haunt Odisha’s Balangir, cooperative sector has also allegedly fallen victim to forged documents apart from the postal department.

Close on the heels of the authorities unearthing a fake certificate racket in getting postal jobs, similar allegation is now being made against an official in the cooperative sector in Balangir district.

According to sources, PACS secretary in Ghuna panchayat in the district, Rashmi Ranjan Behera has been accused of using forged documents to get his job.

It is alleged that Behera got the job by submitting fake certificates about educational qualifications. Behera had allegedly produced several fake certificates of MBA, Diploma in Cooperative Management (DCM) and PGDCA for the job.

While Behera was not available immediately for comment, a senior PACS (Primary Agricultural Credit Society) official said that the authorities have wrtten to the university concerned on the matter and their response is awaited.

While Behera has been in the servicve since 2016, no action has so far been taken in this regard, sources said.

It is yet to be ascertained whether the forged certificates have been procured from Balangir fake certificate prime accused Manoj Mishra’s institute or any other place.

Manwhile, the Crime Branch of Odisha police intensified its probe in the fake certificate case in Balangir. A five-member CB team is camping in Balangir as part of the investigation.

Crime Branch sleuths recorded the statement of two approvers, who were earlier arrested in connection with the case, under Section 164.

They are also likely to take main accused Manoj Mishra and his aide Alok Udgata on remand for interrogation about their roles in the racket and the modus operandi in selling the forged documents.

Earlier, the CB team had examined fake certificates, documents, laptops, hard discs and pen dives seized from the accused, in the presence of Balangir town police.

According to a police official, the CB team is trying to obtain data from these gadgets for more information about their links and network, which is suspected to have spread outside the state.

Notably, Balangir police had busted the fake certificate racket a week ago and arrested 19 people, including the mastermind, Manoj Mishra. Police have also detected many beneficiaries of the fake certificate racket in several districts like Kandhamal, Koraput and Kendrapada.

The racket has reportedly sold fake certificates of about 40 Boards and universities in the country for lakhs of rupees.

Sources said that the CB officials may visit Uttar Pradesh where some board officials are suspected to be linked with the mastermind. They might have given clearance during the certificate verification, sources said.

On the other hand, opposition parties have trained their guns at the state government, accusing some BJD leaders of having connived with the accused Mishra. The State Assembly recently witnessed uproar over the issue when BJP and Congress legislators demanded an impartial probe into the racket, alleging that many people have managed to get jobs in various departments of the government using fake certificates.