The Pune Police will permanently dismiss 19 recruits who allegedly secured appointments under the sports quota using fabricated Kurash certificates, Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said on Friday. Ten of the recruits had not yet joined duty, while the remaining nine had been sent to training centres and will now be recalled.
The police have also indicated that legal action against the candidates is likely. The case has widened beyond the recruits, with 19 organisations that conducted taluka-, district- and state-level Kurash tournaments, along with the people associated with them, coming under investigation.
According to the investigation, the candidates were not genuine Kurash players. Records were allegedly fabricated to present them as athletes and enable them to obtain sports certificates used for recruitment to the Pune city police force under the sports quota.
The Pune crime branch has collected information about the organisations that conducted the tournaments. Senior police officers said further action against those involved would depend on the findings of the investigation. The scrutiny could determine how the certificates were issued and whether the organisations played a role in creating or validating the records.
Police have arrested four people in connection with the case. Those arrested include Ankush Nagar, president of the Maharashtra State Kurash Association; secretary Shivaji Salunkhe; Shruti Pungavankar, who runs a sports training centre; and her husband, Dhairyashil.
The status of the 19 recruits differs according to their stage of appointment. Ten had not been permitted to join duty when the police action was announced. The other nine had already been sent to various training centres, prompting orders for their recall.
The case places the sports-quota recruitment process under scrutiny because the alleged fabrication occurred at the stage of establishing sporting credentials. The investigation is being conducted by Deputy Commissioner of Police Gauhar Hasan and Assistant Commissioner of Police Shankar Khatke under the guidance of Additional Commissioner of Police Tejaswi Satpute.
Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said the recruits would be permanently dismissed from service. The police are continuing to examine the tournament organisations and the individuals running them, with further legal action expected to follow the investigation’s findings.
