lucknow

Updated: Feb 19, 2018 14:52 IST

The UP Special Task Force (STF) on Sunday unearthed a fake education board that had been running in Lucknow under the name of Uttar Pradesh State Open School Board (UPSOSB) since 2013 and had study centres in seven states.

MODUS OPERANDI Triveni Singh, ASP, STF said the fraudsters had formed three websites – www.upsosb.ac.in, www.upsos.co.in and www.upsos.in – and got students registered online on payment of ₹1,350 fees apart from taking affiliation fees and annual fees from educational institutes.

“As per estimates, the fraudsters may have issued educational certificates to over one lakh students and the STF already had a list of around 5,000 people,” he said.

The six other states where the fake board had its study centres were Bihar, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka and Delhi, he added.

The STF raided the fake board’s office in Indira Nagar and arrested seven people, including two brothers.

Rajman Goud and Jitendra Goud – two brothers from Azamgarh were the masterminds behind the fake board that was being operated from a rented building ‘Raheja House’ in Indira Nagar’s Faridinagar locality, said Triveni Singh, ASP, STF.

He said five others arrested along with the brothers were Kanikram Sharma, Sunil Sharma, Neeraj Shahi, Radhey Shyam Prajapati and Neeraj Pratap Shahi.

“In UP itself, at least 65 educational institutes affiliated with this fake board were issuing certificates to students. This figure will go up when details of six other states will be collected,” said Singh, who is also a nodal officer UP STF cyber crime cell.

He said the six other states where the fake board had its study centres were Bihar, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka and Delhi.

“As per estimates, the fraudsters may have issued educational certificates to over one lakh students and the STF already had a list of around 5,000 people,” he added.

Singh said many students having certificates from the same fake board had even got inducted into different jobs.

Explaining the modus-operandi, the ASP said the fraudsters had formed three websites – www.upsosb.ac.in, www.upsos.co.in and www.upsos.in – and got students registered online on payment of ₹1,350 fees apart from taking affiliation fees and annual fees from educational institutes.

The STF’s cyber crime cell zeroed on this board after analysing its websites and raided the office after gathering basic intelligence. Documents related to the fake board and fake marksheets were seized from the office.

A similar fake education board, Rajkiya Institute of Open Schooling (RIOS), was busted in June 2017.

STF keeping tab on copying gangs: DGP Showing concern over such fake education boards, UP DGP OP Singh said the STF has been asked to keep tabs on such anti-social activities as it affects students and their career.

He said the STF is also keeping tab on copying gangs in the ongoing UP Board examinations and so far busted three such gangs in Allahabad, Mirzapur and Ballia.

The office of the district inspector of school (DIoS) noticed it when a girl brought a marksheet issued by the board for verification. The then DIoS Mukesh Kumar Singh issued order to initiate action against all such illegal boards.

The marksheet issued by the fake board was identical to that of the UP Board and candidates were happy to shell out something between Rs 3,000 and Rs 20,000 for every marksheet.

RIOS was operating from Vikas Nagar. To mislead students and parents, the board on, its website, uploaded a number of documents to establish that it was a recognised body, said Singh.

In 2013, the UP Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh claimed that a fake examination board was operating in different parts of the country, including UP. The board granted affiliation to over 300 schools in India, including 12 in Lucknow, claimed RP Mishra, a representative of UP Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh.