Fake certificates: Four Panchkula men booked for duping two cousins of ₹5 lakh

Police have booked four Panchkula residents for duping two cousins of ₹5 lakh on the pretext of helping them clear Class 10 and 12 through Haryana Open School.

The accused have been identified as Ankush, Bhupinder Singh, Sandeep Kumar and Pravesh Kumar. They were booked on the complaint of Pradeep Kumar, 22, a resident of Turon village in Panchkula.

Kumar said he met Ankush, who stays in a nearby village, in January 2021. When he shared that he had failed in Class 10, Ankush told him that his acquaintance Bhupinder could help him get Class 10 cleared through Haryana Open School.

On meeting Bhupinder in Billa village, he was told to pay ₹2 lakh per person to get Class 10 certificate for Pradeep and Class 12 certificate for his cousin Vikram.

A few days later, he provided Bhupinder their documents and also Class 10 and 12 failed marksheets. He also paid him ₹2.4 lakh through instalments over the new few months.

The cousins met Bhupinder again on December 28, 2021, where he told them that in case they did not want to appear in the exams, they’ll have to pay another ₹50,000 each, which they paid in cash. After two months, Bhupinder told them to collect the marksheets and the balance payment of ₹2.6 lakh was made to him on March 25, 2022.

But on getting the marksheets verified, they realised they were fake. Pradeep alleged that the accused also stopped taking his phone calls and when he finally managed to get in touch with him on April 5, 2022, he hurled abuses at him, and threatened to kill him and implicate him in a false case.

Pradeep then approached the Chandimandir police, who after taking legal opinion, booked the accused and his three aides for cheating and criminal conspiracy.