Nineteen candidates recruited into the Pune City Police under Maharashtra's 5% reservation for sportspersons will be permanently dismissed after investigators found their Kurash sports certificates were allegedly fabricated, Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar has said. The decision was reported on 16 October by Punekar News, Navarashtra and Navbharat Live.

Recruits recalled from training

According to the reports, the 19 were selected in the 2024 to 2026 recruitment process. Ten had not yet been allowed to join duty, while nine had been sent to police training centres and have been ordered back. Police have indicated that legal action against the candidates is also likely.

Investigators allege that Kurash competitions recorded on paper were never actually held, and that the certificates were generated from those fabricated records. Navarashtra reported that the case was registered at Shivajinagar police station and that the matter came to light after a citizen passed information and supporting evidence to police.

Arrests and a wider probe

Police have arrested at least four people, including Ankush Nagar, president of the Maharashtra State Kurash Association, and Shivaji Salunkhe, its secretary. Their arrest was first reported in early September, when Punekar News said the certificates were allegedly sold for Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh each and a court remanded both to police custody. They are accused, and no court has ruled on the allegations.

PTI reported in September that more than 1,000 Kurash certificates may have been distributed and that about 60 people had allegedly submitted them to government departments. Discrepancies cited by investigators included certificates dated 2016 to 2017 bearing district names that were only adopted years later, and women's category certificates issued in male names.

The crime branch has collected details of 19 organisations that ran Kurash events at taluka, district and state level, and their office-bearers are expected to be questioned. Punekar News reported in September that police suspect 500 to 600 more candidates across Maharashtra may have used similar certificates to obtain government jobs.

Lessons for recruiters

Sports quota certificates are qualifications in their own right and can be forged like any marksheet. Recruiting bodies can reduce risk by confirming results with the recognised national federation and the state sports directorate, checking that the event was officially notified, and looking for internal inconsistencies such as dates, place names and serial numbers.

Sources

This News Desk report summarises information published by the sources above, written in our own words. Persons named in criminal matters are accused, not convicted, unless a court has ruled otherwise. To report an error, use our contact page.

Punepolice recruitmentsports quotafake certificatesMaharashtra

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