Police have sought details of these sports certificates from the State Department of Sports and Youth Services and other concerned authorities
These certificates were then used in recruitment processes for various state govt departments, where a 5% reservation is provided for sportspersons,” the police said. “Investigation revealed that Kurash certificates were issued to individuals who never actually participated in the competitions, falsely projecting them as sportspersons.
A senior police officer from Pune city crime branch told TOI , “The sport requires large water bodies, such as those found in the backwaters of Kerala, Indonesia, and other places. Pune : Many youngsters from drought-prone Marathwada region allegedly secured jobs in various state govt departments by submitting fake sports certificates, including those for dragon boat competitions, prompting the city police to launch an investigation into the matter. “We have initiated our probe after receiving a complaint application. However, Marathwada and other parts of the state do not have such large water bodies. Many of these districts have consistently faced drought conditions. Despite this, these ‘young sportspersons’ not only managed to learn the sport but also participated in competitions. Police are already probing a similar racket involving Kurash certificates, in which numerous youngsters allegedly secured jobs by submitting fake credentials for the martial arts sport. Police have now begun verifying how many people secured jobs in various state govt departments using these certificates and how many candidates availed themselves of the sports quota across Maharashtra. Police have already arrested two office-bearers of the Kurash association.
We have already gathered some information on the fake dragon boat competitions, and further investigation is underway,” additional commissioner of police (crime) Tejaswi Satpute said on Wednesday.
Crime branch officials found that office-bearers of the Maharashtra State Kurash Association had distributed over 1,000 fake certificates since 2016. The investigation into the Kurash racket revealed that the scam had spread across the state.