The Crime Branch Crime Investigation Department of the Tamil Nadu police arrested Osthin Raja of Nagercoil, the alleged kingpin in connection with the Annamalai University fake certificates scam.
A special team tracking the prime suspect since November last year zeroed-in on him in Bengaluru on Tuesday. He was produced in a local court there and brought to Cuddalore after obtaining a transit warrant, sources in the agency said.
Preliminary investigation revealed that Osthin Raja and his associates must have issued at least 400 fake degree and diploma certificates, of which a majority were degrees in Homeopathy. He was earlier on the radar of the police for issuing fake degree certificates of Alagappa University, Karaikudi.
“We suspect that some of the persons who bought the fake degree in Homeopathy certificates could be practising. After we arrested some other key accused in the case, the beneficiaries realised that investigators were closing in on Osthin Raja. About 150 of them turned up at CB-CID offices and submitted the original fake certificates,” a senior police official said.
The modus operandi of the accused persons was to design and print the fake degrees with the help of designers. They would collect a huge sum from those seeking the certificates depending upon the course.
“They would delete all the data to erase evidence. However, we managed to access a storage device that had details of dozens of persons who transacted with them,” the official said. Three other suspects were also arrested and remanded in judicial custody on Wednesday. While bank transactions to the tune of several lakhs of rupees were found, investigators said cash dealings could run into several crores of rupees.
When contacted, the Inspector-General of Police of CB-CID, T.S Anbu, confirmed the arrest of Osthin Raja and his accomplices. Ruling out the connivance of university officials in the case, he said the police were trying to get the entire list of beneficiaries in the fake certificate scam.
In July 2024, the CB-CID took over the investigation from the Cuddalore police in the case where MMI Nagar residents in Kovilampoondi near Parangipettai found a large number of Annamalai University certificates dumped in garbage bins.
The varsity officials later inspected and confirmed they were fake.
