The Tilak Nagar Police in Mumbai have uncovered a major college admission racket allegedly involving two senior clerks from Somaiya Vidyavihar University, an official said on Monday.
The accused—Mahendra Vishnu Patil (45), clerks of SK Somaiya College and Arjun Rathod (43) of KJ Somaiya College—have been employed as senior clerks for over two decades, the police said.
As part of their duties during the admission process, undertaken by the School Education and Sports Department of the Maharashtra Government for the class 11 centralised online admission process 2024-25, Patil and Rathod, allegedly using their fraudulent ideas, tweaked the merit percentage of low-scoring students and uploaded forged marksheet and leaving certificates (LC) to the government’s website, the police said.
Currently, at least 49 students have been caught whose fake documents were used to secure admission at three colleges inside Somaiya Vidyavihar – SK Somaiya College, KJ Somaiya College and SK Somaiya Vidyamandir School, said the police.
The third accused in the case has been identified as Devendra Suryakanth Sadaye (55), who assisted the first two accused in filing the admission forms that students are required to submit and upload on the government website after their results are announced, an official said.
“There are two forms students are supposed to fill and upload—one before their results and the other after. In the second form, students mention their scores, preferred colleges, etc. Sadaye helped the two clerks by providing forged marks and percentages to ensure the applications fit within the colleges` cut-off criteria,” said a police official.
The matter first came to light on Monday during the admission process when the college administration noticed irregularities in the marks of some students.
They reported the issue to the State Education Department, whose technical team flagged discrepancies in the authenticity of the documents uploaded on the website.
The college management uncovered fraudulent activity in the admission procedure following an internal assessment.
Prof. (Dr.) Kishan H. Pawar, Principal of KJ Somaiya College of Arts and Commerce, immediately alerted the Tilak Nagar Police and registered an FIR against the senior clerks based on initial suspicion.
During interrogation, the duo confessed to their crime, said an official.
“The motive was financial gain, as the clerks charged nothing less than a lakh per student for modifying marksheets,” said a senior police official.
He added, “What must also be considered is the parents` willingness to participate in this scheme, driven by their desire to secure admissions for their children in prestigious colleges to ensure a better future.”
He added, “So far, forged marksheets and leaving certificates (LCs) of 49 students have been identified, but we suspect there may be more. The arrested accused will be further interrogated to uncover additional cases.”
Confirming the incident, the spokesperson of the Somaiya Trust stated that the institute authorities registered the FIR on Monday.
The spokesperson further mentioned that irregularities were found in certain documents submitted by students during the admission process as part of a routine review. These findings led to an internal investigation, which eventually resulted in the institution filing an FIR.
“We had approached the police after anomalies were identified in specific admission documents during our routine verification process. Once the discrepancies were confirmed, we promptly notified the relevant authorities and subsequently contacted the police. With guidance and support from the Directorate of Education, we annulled these fraudulent admissions. Somaiya Vidyavihar maintains a zero-tolerance stance against fraudulent activities and assures everyone that these actions were carried out in compliance with the guidelines set forth by the Directorate of Education to safeguard the integrity of the admission process,” the institution`s spokesperson stated.
