A suspended upper division clerk (UDC) from the education department was arrested on Thursday by the Special Operations Group (SOG) as part of its ongoing investigation into the fake Taekwondo sports certificate racket connected to the 2022 grade III teacher recruitment, officials stated.
Details of the Arrest
Additional Director General of Police (SOG) Vishal Bansal identified the accused as Jagdish Saran, 33, a resident of Nagaur district. He was previously posted at Shri Karni Government Senior Secondary School in Deshnok, Bikaner. Investigators revealed that Saran allegedly acted as a key conduit in procuring forged sports certificates for candidates seeking jobs under the sports quota.
The Recruitment Process
According to Bansal, the Staff Selection Board invited applications in 2022 for teachers, with 2 percent of seats reserved for sportspersons. During scrutiny, 38 candidates were shortlisted based on Taekwondo certificates. Subsequent investigation revealed that several candidates secured fake certificates through a network of middlemen.
Officials said forged verification reports were sent to the Directorate of Elementary Education, Bikaner, through email IDs designed to resemble those of the Taekwondo Federation of India. The digital trail led investigators to a wider conspiracy involving fabrication of documents and impersonation.
Previous Arrests
In March this year, SOG teams arrested 20 candidates, three associates, and a middleman across Rajasthan. During interrogation, one candidate told police he paid Rs 30,000 to Saran around three years ago for a forged certificate linked to a national-level Taekwondo championship held at Visakhapatnam.
Investigators said Saran struck the deal at a wedding in Bikaner, initially quoting Rs 2.30 lakh for arranging the certificate. He allegedly sourced the forged document through his relative, a physical training instructor from Nagaur, who is now absconding.
Wider Network
Police said the accused is suspected to have supplied fake certificates to several other candidates, including Mumtaz, Jyotiraditya, Mangilal, Babita Jakhad, and Mamta Kumari. Saran was earlier arrested in another SOG case involving fake sports certificates in a tug-of-war event and was already in judicial custody since April 2024. He was brought on a production warrant and formally arrested in the present case on April 22 at 2:10 pm.
He was produced before a court on Thursday, which granted police custody until Saturday. Officials said further investigation is under way to identify more beneficiaries of the racket and trace the absconding accused.
