Jaipur: The Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan Police Wednesday arrested the director of a Chennai-based vocational training institute that allegedly sold backdated diplomas and certificates for fire technician and storekeeping courses to candidates appearing for the 2925 Indian Navy recruitment examination.ADG (SOG) Vishal Bansal identified the accused as SAG Moeson, also known as Arul Gnana Moeson. Arrest warrants have also been issued against the chairman of the institute, B S Balachandran, who is expected to be arrested soon, he added.DIG (SOG) Paris Deshmukh told TOI that the accused ran an institute in Chennai named Bharat Sevak Samaj (BSS), which claims on its website to be established in 1952 by the Planning Commission and offers a wide range of courses on media, fashion, solar, X-ray technician, fire and safety, purchasing and storekeeping.Deshmukh said the SOG, while probing cases involving forged marksheets and fire technician diplomas in state-level exams, learnt that fake certificates were being supplied to candidates to enable them to apply for the Indian Navy’s fire technician recruitment examination.“During the investigation, we found that BSS, along with one AS Fire and Safety Management Institute based in Rajasthan’s Karauli, issued backdated diplomas and marksheets for the 2023–24 academic session without providing any training and solely for financial gain,” Deshmukh said.Candidates reportedly received fake marksheets and certificates in July 2025 from BSS within three days of submitting their Class 12 marksheets and Aadhaar cards.Investigators said the institute illegally promoted itself as authorised by the Planning Commission to conduct skill development courses. No authorisation had actually been granted, and BSS consequently had no legal authority to conduct courses, provide training or issue diplomas and certificates, they added.SOG officers said BSS operated out of an office-type setup and lacked any training infrastructure. Despite that, it was issuing thousands of diplomas and certificates by partnering with colleges and skill development institutions across the country. Explaining the modus operandi, Deshmukh said BSS representatives would invite college administrations to affiliate with it and collect anywhere from Rs 70,000 to Rs 1 lakh in exchange. More than 10,000 colleges and vocational training institutes across the country were tied up with BSS, though it is not yet clear if they had been defrauded or were willing participants in fraud. The SOG probe found that colleges, in turn, would charge candidates Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 for diploma courses, of which a further Rs 2,000 per candidate was passed on to BSS. Investigators believe BSS generated an illegal income running into crores of rupees using this scheme.
