Over 1,000 fake marks cards seized as CCB raids dubious institute

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) seized over 1,000 fake marks cards after raiding the offices of an educational institute with a dubious record.

The raids were conducted on the offices of Sri Venkateshwara Institute (VSS Institute of Educational Research and Charitable Trust) in Mahalakshmi Layout, Kodigehalli and Marathahalli. They yielded 1,097 fake marks cards, 87 blank marks cards, 74 seals of different universities, five hard discs, five PhD transfer certificates, five mobile phones and a printer.

The CCB arrested four people — Shilpa, the director of the institute; employees Sharada and Kishore; and Rajanna, the owner of a printing press. The kingpin and founder-chairman of the institute, G Srinivas Reddy, has remained at large. Reddy was previously arrested by the CCB in 2018 and 2019 for a similar offence. Rajanna had come to collect the marks cards for printing when the CCB raided the institute.

The raids were carried out by CCB inspectors Hazaresh Killedar and Durga R under the guidance of S D Sharanappa, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime).

According to the CCB, the institute sold fake marks cards of SSLC, PUC, diploma, undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD courses for anywhere between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh apiece.

Correspondence courses

They mainly targeted people looking to pursue correspondence courses. PhD certificates cost between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 20 lakh. The institute did not issue MBBS mark cards.

The CCB raided the institute after an Electronics City resident filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime police station. According to the youth, the institute offered BCom marks cards for Rs 1 lakh when he visited its Mahalakshmi Layout head office on November 12 to inquire about admission to a correspondence course in commerce. The receptionist asked him to pay Rs 1 lakh and promised a certificate of a reputable university.

The complainant paid Rs 40,000 and asked the receptionist when he should take the exam. She said he didn’t have to appear for any exam because they would get someone else to take it. She assured him of the degree certificate and the marks cards.

After he paid Rs 40,000, the institute sent him first- and second-year marks cards on WhatsApp on November 26. For the final-year marks cards, he was asked to pay the remaining Rs 60,000. But the youth suspected that the marks cards were fake and approached the police, CCB said.

The CCB said that the institute created fake marks cards by using the name and logos of different universities.

Of the seized fake marks cards, 288 were of Dr CV Raman University, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh; 283 of National Institute of Open Schooling, Andhra Pradesh; 18 of Karnataka State Open University; 128 of William Carey University, Shillong University; 147 of North East Frontier Technical University, Arunachal Pradesh; 25 of Calorx Teachers University (Gujarat State University); four of Swamy Vivekananda Global University, West Bengal; 18 of IEC University, Himachal Pradesh; 13 of VS Prasanna Bharati University-Haryana University; six of Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management University, Sikkim; five of EIILM University, Sikkim; and 65 of other universities.