Male winners in women’s category, 60-kg candidate in 90-kg group: Probe finds glaring anomalies - The Indian Express

Males certified as winners in a women’s Kurash category, a person weighing less than 60 kg shown having competed and won in the 90-kg category, and certificates carrying the names of districts that were renamed years after the purported competitions were held are among a series of glaring anomalies uncovered by Pune police probing an alleged fake sports certificate racket.

The Pune police Crime Branch has also found participation lists apparently prepared after competitions had concluded, one list submitted more than three years before the event, and documents bearing the names or signatures of office-bearers who took charge years after the competitions they supposedly certified. The Crime Branch has till now arrested four persons, including two arrested on Tuesday.

The discrepancies have emerged during an investigation into certificates allegedly used by candidates to claim the five per cent sports quota in government recruitment. As many as 71 candidates already recruited to the Maharashtra Police and other government departments since 2023 under Group 1 and 2, are now under the scanner for allegedly securing jobs using fake Kurash proficiency certificates while around 1,500 such certificates dated between 2016 and 2023 were distributed through this alleged organised racket.

Kurash is a traditional central Asian martial art and combat sport that focuses on throws, balance and grappling techniques. It has been included in the Asian games since 2016.

“There are set rules on how the competitions are to be conducted and how the records are to be kept. Our probe has revealed that in blatant violation of these rules, fake certificates were given to people who were not even players of this game,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Tejaswi Satpute. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to undertake the probe with statewide links. Raids have till now been conducted in at least four districts with more on the way.

The district-name discrepancies are among the clearest indications being examined by investigators. Participation documents attributed to the Dharashiv district Kurash association refer to competitions held in 2020, 2021 and 2022 as having been conducted in Dharashiv. The district, however, was officially known as Osmanabad until September 15, 2023. Similarly, documents relating to competitions in 2019, 2021 and 2022 use the name Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, although the district was then known as Aurangabad. “There were some glaring irregularities. For example, in many cases, the taluka and district-level competitions have not taken place and the state-level certificates have been directly issued. In most of these cases, the state-level competitions have taken place just on paper,” an officer part of the SIT said.

The probe has also uncovered striking inconsistencies involving participants’ gender and weight. In the results of the state championship held over the last few years, male candidates appear among winners in the women’s category. The names of these men, who have received certificates as winners, do not even appear in the corresponding participation list. “For a man who has been given a certificate in the 90-kilogram male category, a person who does not weigh more than 60 kilogram in actuality, has been given a certificate,” the SIT officer said.

Some district records have raised further questions. Police say these district Kurash associations were registered in 2019, yet documents purportedly relating to competitions in 2016 and 2018 carry that registration number. Documents for competitions in 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 also allegedly bear the names or signatures of office-bearers who assumed their positions only after 2023-24, the probe revealed.

The investigation began after Pune police received confidential information that candidates had allegedly submitted Kurash certificates to claim sports-quota benefits in government recruitment. Investigators are now examining certificates, competition records, signatures, correspondence and recruitment documents to establish whether the events took place and whether candidates actually participated. Satpute said the alleged racket involved more than individual forged certificates. “We first found out that the outfit claiming to be the Maharashtra level Kurash body, was not even affiliated to the national level body. So a body that was not even recognised has issued certificates, without even conducting the competitions in many of the cases. These competitions have taken place on paper.”

Two people, Shivaji Jaywant Salunkhe, 46, and Ankush Vitthal Nagar, 40, were initially arrested. Both have sports backgrounds including Judo and wrestling and allegedly posed as president and secretary of the unregistered Maharashtra Kurash body. Pune police on Tuesday arrested Dhairyasheel Pungaonkar, 51, and Shruti Pungaonkar, 45, from Kolhapur, taking the total arrests to four. Police are now trying to establish who prepared and distributed the certificates, how these candidates submitted forged documents and whether intermediaries or officials were involved in their verification. “This is an investigation with statewide links and national level impact. We are also receiving inputs about a sport named Dragon Boat now.” an officer said.

Sushant Kulkarni is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express in Pune with 12+ years of experience covering issues related to Crime, Defence, Internal Security and Courts. He has been associated with the Indian Express since July 2010. Sushant has extensively reported on law and order issues of Pune and surrounding area, Cyber crime, narcotics trade and terrorism. His coverage in the Defence beat includes operational aspects of the three services, the defence research and development and issues related to key defence establishments. He has covered several sensitive cases in the courts at Pune. Sushant is an avid photographer, plays harmonica and loves cooking. ... Read More