‘Fake’ degree probe begins

Guwahati, June 21 : Assam police have started two investigations into the fake education certificate and marksheet case involving Arunachal Pradesh health and family welfare minister Atum Welly’s son and daughter.

Police officers here said they were scrutinising documents based on two FIRs lodged with Basistha and Bharalumukh police stations in the city by a city-based educational institute, Assam Education and Management Academy (AEMA), alleging that Welly’s son Akung and daughter Annung had used fake certificates in the name of two colleges in Assam — Pragjyotish College and Beltola College — to get government jobs in Arunachal Pradesh.

“We have registered two cases based on the complaints and have begun investigations. We will talk to the authorities of the two colleges to find out if the certificates produced by Akung and Annung were fake. If necessary, we will seek the help of police and investigators in Arunachal Pradesh,” a source in city police said today.

According to the complaint lodged on Wednesday, Akung, who is an inspector in the tax and excise department of Arunachal Pradesh, produced and submitted a degree certificate and marksheet of Pragjyotish College, which is affiliated to Gauhati University, at the time of his appointment.

However, the university authorities informed an Arunachal Pradesh-based NGO, Sango Lamte Foundation, in writing that Akung had never taken admission into the college and no documents were issued to him.

The AEMA also alleged that the minister’s daughter had also submitted a fake certificate in the name of Beltola College for her appointment as socio-cultural organiser in the department of art and culture in Arunachal Pradesh.

AEMA’s legal adviser Sahiba Ahmed said, “We lodged the complaint after Sango Lamte Foundation informed us that both had produced fake documents to get government jobs. We gathered information and accordingly lodged complaints with the police. We suspect that there is a big fake certificate scam in the name of Assam-based educational institutions and we demand a thorough investigation to unearth it.”

“Police officials spoke to us today and discussed the documents we had submitted to them for investigation,” she added.

Welly could not be contacted.

Sources said the case had come as a big embarrassment for newly appointed chief minister Jarbom Gamlin, who replaced Dorjee Khandu after Khandu died in a chopper crash in April.

Sources said the Gamlin government had not ordered any inquiry into the cases.

Neither Gamlin nor APCC president Nabam Tuki could be contacted.

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