The Pune Crime Branch has registered a case against office-bearers of the Maharashtra State Kurash Association and other individuals for allegedly manufacturing fake tournament certificates to manipulate the state government’s five percent sports reservation quota. Unit-1 of the Crime Branch initiated the probe after discovering that paper competitions were shown as conducted between 2016 and 2026 at venues like Shivajinagar Police Ground and Balewadi Sports Complex. The alleged arrangement involved generating backdated paperwork, fabricating tournament results, and issuing proficiency credentials to ineligible candidates seeking recruitment into the police force and other public services. Investigators have named state association president Ankush Vitthal Nagar, secretary Shivaji Jaywant Salunkhe, and district-level office-bearers Kalyan Balasaheb Murkute and Chandpasha Lalasaheb Shaikh as key accused in the conspiracy.
Glaring anachronisms and altered dates expose paper events
The probe unraveled when investigators detected critical geographical and temporal inconsistencies across recommendation documents and participation rosters. Recommendation letters purportedly issued for tournaments organized in 2019, 2021, and 2022 referred to the districts of Dharashiv and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. These official district titles were formally introduced by the state government only in September 2023, presenting clear proof that the administrative records were drafted years later and assigned past dates.
Similar chronological distortions surfaced throughout multiple event files. In one instance, an entry roster for an event slated for September 2023 carried an official submission date of June 2018. In another instance, documents linked to a 2025 competition were filed well before the event was scheduled to take place. These systemic record discrepancies prompted investigators to conclude that tournaments existed only on paper to facilitate fraudulent certification.
Bizarre category entries and retroactive association records
Further evaluation revealed serious administrative fabrications in the tournament results themselves. Records associated with a state-level championship staged at the Sinhgad Institute in Ambegaon during August 2025 indicated that a male athlete was awarded a sports certificate after being listed under the women’s 44-kilogram weight division. Furthermore, district units from Thane, Jalgaon, Gondia, Dhule, and Pimpri-Chinchwad filed athlete rosters weeks following the conclusion of competitions, yet their participants were subsequently issued medals and official certificates.
Severe procedural irregularities emerged from paperwork associated with the Parbhani District Kurash Association. Association leaders who took their administrative posts in the 2023-24 period had their signatures stamped on recommendation papers bearing dates as early as 2016. Furthermore, official association registration numbers assigned only in July 2019 appeared on tournament forms dated 2016 and 2018, demonstrating retroactive preparation of official paperwork.
Crime Branch expands inquiry into recruitment beneficiaries
The Pune police filed the first information report under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita dealing with criminal conspiracy, cheating, and the forgery of official records. The ongoing inquiry focuses on mapping the chain of custody behind the fake documents, encompassing event organizers, brokers who facilitated candidate access, and government sports department personnel responsible for verifying proficiency certificates.
Investigators are tracking candidates who may have secured public sector jobs or gained recruitment advantages through the disputed sports credentials. The wide-ranging investigation comes amid rising frustration among genuine athletes who train extensively for state-backed sports quota opportunities, only to find the competitive selection process corrupted by fabricated paper events.
