Kanpur (PTI): The Kanpur Police on Tuesday claimed to have busted a fake degree racket with links across India and abroad, arresting the 32-year-old alleged kingpin and three more.
The arrests were made during raids in the Kidwai Nagar and Bekanganj areas, where police uncovered a sophisticated illegal printing setup functioning from a residential building.
According to the police, the accused forged academic documents ranging from high school marksheets to PhD degrees and supplying them across several Indian states as well as overseas through courier and digital networks.
The police identified the alleged kingpin as Ziya-ul-Hasan alias Sameer alias Atif, a resident of Hiraman Purwa currently living at Iqbal Building on Nala Road in Chamanganj.
The other three arrested were Hasan Asif, 34, his brother, and Amir Ahmad and Nooruddin, aged 33 and 34.
Commissioner of Police Raghubir Lal told PTI that the forged documents were nearly indistinguishable from genuine ones.
"In some cases, the print quality appeared even better than original certificates," he said.
In their raid, the police seized two laptops, desktop computers, colour printers, CPUs, three hard disks, Wi-Fi routers, 141 rubber stamps of several universities, 80 hologram strips, hologram dies, floating punch dies, 830 blank marksheet papers, raw printing material, and several fake certificates and degrees.
The probe revealed that the racket had been active for many years and charged between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 for a forged marksheet or certificate.
Preliminary investigation suggested that fake documents linked to at least eight universities and boards were being produced.
The eight identified were Annamalai University, Lingaya's Vidyapeeth, Karnataka State Open University, Osmania University, DY Patil Vidyapeeth, Alagappa University, Acharya Nagarjuna University, and Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj (CSJM) University, Kanpur.
The gang also arranged fake online verification of certificates through phishing websites, enabling forged documents to appear genuine during background checks by employers and institutions, Lal told PTI.
The commissioner said Ziya-ul-Hasan was allegedly in contact with two Canada-based associates identified as Bhaveen and Bari.
He allegedly sent them PDF and CorelDRAW files of forged marksheets and certificates, which were later printed and circulated abroad for securing jobs.
Ziya-ul-Hasan used a UK-based mobile number, which helped him create influence and credibility among people associated with the racket, he said.
Nearly Rs 49 lakh was traced to Ziya-ul-Hasan's account, around Rs 40 lakh to Hasan Asif's Axis Bank account, while transactions worth nearly Rs 1 crore were detected in Amir Ahmad's account, the officer said.
The police also found that Ziya-ul-Hasan travelled abroad multiple times and had extended stays in London in 2024 and 2025. He also visited Saudi Arabia in 2023.
Officials said the breakthrough came after the arrest of Raghav Sarraf in a related case.
Analysis of financial transactions and supplier links in the wake of his arrest led investigators to the printing hub.
"As action intensified against earlier accused persons, the gang attempted to destroy evidence. The mastermind had reportedly destroyed several mobile phones previously used in the operation to erase digital trails," Lal said.
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This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.