20,000-25,000 for providing certificates

A day after the arrest of Pakistani national Mohammed Usman Ikram, three persons, including a lecturer, were arrested from Karimnagar for facilitating him to get forged education certificates. After the arrest of the trio, Central Crime Station (CCS) officials came to know that they were operating an organised racket and may have sold thousands of education certificates through fraudulent means.

CCS officials said lecturer Maqsood Ahmed and his associates Syed Badaruzzama Kirmani and Mohammed Khaja Nizam were arrested from Karimnagar based on Ikram’s confession. Later in the day, they were produced in a local court in Hyderabad.Mohammed Maqsood Ahmed, a lecturer at Trinity College, Karimnagar, was an agent and used to provide fake or original certificates of different universities for a price. Kirmani and Khaja were mediators and would refer candidates to Maqsood Ahmed for a commission.

During investigation, CCS officials recovered a diary from Maqsood Ahmed in which he made entries of persons to whom he had supplied education certificates since 2014. “Maqsood Ahmed with the assistance of Kirmani and Khaja had provided the fake/ forged educational certificates to the arrested Pakistani national Usman Ikram,” deputy commissioner of police (CCS) Avinash Mohanty said in an official release issued on Saturday.

CCS officials said they would investigate whether there was any nexus between Maqsood Ahmed and staff of some universities. “We will try to trace both the insiders in the universities who are part of the racket besides the students who obtained these certificates from these accused. From each needy person, Maqsood collected ?20,000-25,000 for providing certificates,’’ additional deputy commissioner of police (Cyber Crime) KCS Raghuvir said.

On Friday, Ikram, who was illegally staying in India, was arrested for threatening to upload private video of his step-daughter on social media. He was in possession of an illegally obtained Indian passport and education certificates. Searching for his second wife, a 35-year-old divorcee from Hyderabad, Ikram crossed the Indo-Nepal border illegally and reached the city