TURA: A classical case of forgery in order to get a job in the armed forces has been unearthed through an RTI application filed by one person with the Commandant, 4th Battalion Meghalaya Police.
The alleged fraudster, one Emran Miah, is presently serving as a constable in the 4th Battalion at Sophian under Nongstoin in West Khasi Hills.
In reply to the RTI, the concerned authority provided documents submitted by the candidate at the time of applying for the job where it was found that documents like school transfer certificate, birth certificate etc., were obtained fraudulently so as to increase the candidate’s age. At the time of applying for the post the candidate was only 17 years old and ineligible to apply as according to Meghalaya Police Service Rules the requisite age is 18-21 years.
During the job application, the candidate had submitted a Transfer Certificate issued in 2010 by the head of the Dipchoran Memorial GA Secondary School, Chapahati in West Garo Hills, where it was stated that Miah had passed the Class VIII annual examination and had been promoted to Class IX in 2007. His date of birth was recorded as 07/08/1990 which tallied with his birth certificate issued by the Department of Health and Family Welfare.
What is interesting is the fact that both certificates were issued in 2010 and a few months apart from each other.
Another RTI filed with the Head Teacher of Kukurma LP School revealed that Miah had been under-aged to apply for the job in 2012. The copy of the Character Certificate provided by the school authorities clearly stated that Miah had been aged 10 in 2005 making him ineligible to apply for the job in 2012 as he would then be only 17 years old.
Meanwhile, the complainant claimed that Miah had passed his SSLC examination from Mahendraganj Deficit Secondary School but submitted a Transfer Certificate obtained from Dipchoran Memorial Secondary School along with a fake Birth Certificate as he was below 18 years of age at the time.
The complainant has demanded strong action against the candidate and those school authorities and officials of the departments who had a hand in forging of the certificates.