IGNOU Fake Degree Scam: 4000 Students Issued Degrees Without Giving Exams
Over 4,000 students were issued false degrees in one of the IGNOU centres in Kathua district of J&K. Students enrolled in the centre got bogus degrees even without appearing in the examinations.
The crime branch of Jammu and Kashmir Police have exposed a major scam that was going on at an IGNOU centre in Kathua district (J&K). According to the reports, over 4,000 students were issued false degrees by the IGNOU centre. The students did not even appear in the examinations and were still issued false degrees.
The scam at Indira Gandhi National Open University centre was brought to the notice of the local police of the state after they received an input from a person named Prashant Bandari. He and his associates were involved in conducting false examinations and extending admission to students at one of the IGNOU centre established in Billawar town in a 2014-15 academic year.
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As per the crime branch official, about 4,000 students were given false admissions through the centre and till date they have not conducted any examinations. However, the students enrolled in the IGNOU centre have been shown appeared in examinations and they have been awarded degrees for the same.
This IGNOU centre follows a two admission session system i.e. in January and July and conducts two examinations in June and December. It has around 800 to 1,200 students in each session.
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Apart from this, the centre was also faking attendance sheets and answer sheets and the same was submitted to IGNOU using the centre codes of Paddar, Chatroo, Kishtwar and Katra. Thousands of rupees were collected from the students and the bank accounts were opened in the name of the Chairman and a non-existent coordinator.