The Pune police have busted an alleged racket involving the use of fake sport proficiency certificates to secure government jobs under the sports quota, with two persons arrested in connection with the case, police said on Wednesday.
Kurash is an internationally recognised sport and competitions are conducted in Maharashtra under the Kurash Association of Maharashtra. A confidential application received by the police alleged that fake proficiency certificates were being issued by showing that candidates had participated in state-level Kurash competitions, even though such competitions had not actually been held. The police investigation allegedly found serious discrepancies in the certificates and supporting documents.
The accused have been identified as Shivaji Jaywant Salunkhe 46, a resident of Fursungi-Hadapsar and originally hails from Kolhapur, and Ankush Vitthal Nagar 40, currently residing in Chandigarh and originally from Ahilyanagar. Competitions mentioned as having been held between 2016 and 2019 were allegedly organised by an association that was not affiliated with the Kurash Association of India, according to police.
The racket came to light during an investigation into a confidential complaint alleging that people were being awarded fake certificates showing proficiency in Kurash despite not having participated in the competitions mentioned in the certificates, according to the police. However, certain individuals allegedly exploited the sports quota system by creating records of competitions that had never taken place and subsequently issuing certificates to candidates showing that they had participated in and excelled in those events, according to police. Police said such certificates were allegedly used to claim the five per cent sports quota reservation in government recruitment.
Both were arrested on Thursday.
