Bengaluru: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) has arrested a 25-year-old woman for selling fake degree certificates and marks cards of well known universities in the country and also a foreign university.

However, the kingpin of the racket is at large.

The arrested is Safia Banu, a resident of Bannerghatta Main Road. Acting on a tip off, the CCB sleuths raided a college admission cum information centre in Jayanagar and caught Banu.
 
It is said that she was working at the behest of kingpin Ravikumar alias Ravi Raj, a native of Secunderabad, who is absconding.

They have seized fake marks cards, degree certificates, question papers and answer sheets, fake seals of various universities, computers and mobile phones.

The gang used to offer fake marks cards and degree certificates of as many as 38 different courses, including PhD and M Phil from well known universities including
Madhurai Kamaraj University, (Tamil Nadu); Dravidian University, Kuppam (Andhra Pradesh); Rashtriya Vishwa Vidya Peetha, Mumbai; CV Raman University, Chattisgarh; Board of Open Distance Learning, West Bengal; Global Open University, Nagaland; RKDF University, Kerala; and Northwest Accreditation Commission (USA).

The gang used to charge anywhere between Rs 30,000 to 50,000 for the certificates. The certificates were handed over to the degree seekers within 30 days of completion of examination.

It was the presence of mind of one student that brought the entire racket to open. It is said that one students who received marks card and certificate rom the centre crosschecked it with the university. He was shocked to know that his name was not listed. When he approached the centre, he was told to wait for a while saying that the university is yet to update the same. The student waited but only to realise that it was a fake centre.

He approached the police and registered a complaint based on which the centre was raided.

A case has been registered in Tilak Nagar police station and investigation is being carried out.