Archive for August, 2009

History repeats itself:

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Editorial

The Frontier Post, Peshawar

IN Bangalore city you needn’t have to do a course to get an MBA degree. You can simply buy a certificate for Rs 5,000. The same goes for most degrees.

Though the police exposed a major racket in manufacturing fake Bangalore University marksheets and degree certificates recently, several smaller rackets are believed to be still running in the city. These conmen are said to cater in a big way to applicants of ECNR (Emigration Check Not Required) status in passports.
“We have information of several racketeers manufacturing fake certificates. It is not difficult to catch them. But getting hold of a few blank certificates would not root them out. We have to get the printing press also and seize it. That’s often difficult,” said a police official. This August the Tilaknagar police station seized scores of fake Bangalore University marksheets and degree certificates and arrested six people. The printing press that was producing these genuine-looking documents was also seized. They found blank certificates and marksheets for BA, BCom, LLB, MBA, BE, MBBS and BDS streams. What seemed to be most in demand were certificates for the MBA, hotel management diploma ,BPharm and MPharm. The printing setup was simple, but they managed to print genuine looking Bangalore University certificates.
Passport officer Soumen Bagchi said their office does come across forged certificates and the incidence is particularly high among postal applications. “We cross-check with individual universities as and when a doubt arises. It is impossible to get each university degree certificate verified as our resources are limited. But our staff is very familiar with Bangalore University emblems and signatures and chances of fake BU certificates passing for original are rare,” said Bagchi.
In case of a forged document, the application is rejected and the applicant is penalised. For first time offenders, the penalty is Rs 5,000. Second time offenders are liable to be imprisoned. According to sources in the police department, the fake certificate racket targets ECNR applicants. Except for a few countries, most do not allow foreigners without an ECNR stamp into their country. “The risk of being caught trying to get a job with a fake certificate in India is high because in case of a doubt the employers can at any point get it cross-checked,” sources said.

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