Kanpur: The alleged kingpin of a gang involved in preparing and selling fake marksheets and degrees in Kanpur, carrying a reward of Rs 25,000, was arrested near Ursula Hospital on Friday.Investigators said transactions worth about Rs 50 crore were traced to five bank accounts linked to the accused, while the probe has also revealed a Rs 90 lakh transfer to his account after a co-accused was released from jail.Police commissioner Raghubir Lal said, “Akhilesh Shukla had been absconding for quite some time and a reward of Rs 25,000 had been declared on him. On Friday, police arrested him near Ursula Hospital. He is now being questioned to gather information about other people linked to the network.”The investigation revealed that on July 5, when police reached his house in Unnao to conduct a raid, his wife allegedly set several fake marksheets and degrees on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence. Police said Akhilesh and his brother were not found during the raid.On Feb 17, Kidwai Nagar police exposed a gang involved in preparing fake marksheets and degrees in Saket Nagar. Four accused were arrested, and more than 1,000 fake marksheets and degrees of 14 universities and the Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad from nine states were recovered.A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to investigate the case. As the probe progressed, six more accused were arrested and sent to jail.On the night of June 8, police arrested four more people linked to the same network from Hiraman Ka Purwa in Bekanganj. Police said fake marksheets and degrees of some colleges and universities in Kaushambi were recovered, which were to be sent from Bijnor to Delhi.The investigation revealed that the work of arranging fake documents was being handled by Amit Saxena, a resident of Etawah, and Gopalji Gupta of Jalaun. Using surveillance inputs, police arrested Amit and Gopalji on July 3. During questioning, both allegedly told police that the entire gang was being operated by Akhilesh, a resident of Abeer Nagar in Unnao, and his brother Nikhilesh.Police said the investigation revealed that Akhilesh ran coaching centres under the names DPS Foundation and Utkarsh Academy. Transactions worth about Rs 50 crore were found in his five bank accounts between 2015 and the present, police said.Police also said they received information that after Gopalji was released from jail in April, Rs 90 lakh was transferred from his account to Akhilesh’s account.
