Pune professor arrested for forging letter claiming prestigious science award

NEW DELHI: A chemistry professor of a Pune-based college has been arrested for allegedly forging a letter claiming he was selected for a prestigious science award instituted by the Ministry of Science and Technology, police said on Monday. Virendra Singh Yadav, an associate professor from a college in Wagholi, was arrested on Sunday under sections 318 (4) (cheating), 336 (forgery) and other relevant sections of Bharashtiya Nyaya Sanhita, an official said.

According to a complaint by a security officer from the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), the ministry recently came across a letter stating that associate professor Yadav from a college in Wagholi had been selected for the 2025-26 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award. In 2022, the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award was renamed as Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar, one of the highest recognitions in the field of science, technology, and innovation.

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CSIR-HRDC detects fake signature

"During scrutiny, CSIR-HRDC officials found a forged signature of the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Science & Technology in the letter. A probe also revealed that no one had been selected for the said science award for 2025-26," the complaint stated. The NCL was instructed to conduct a verification, following which a team visited Yadav at the college and found out that he had allegedly forged the letter to gain a higher position in the field of science, police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 4) Somay Munde said, "Yadav forged a letter claiming he has been selected for the award, and he also forged the signature of Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Science & Technology Jitendra Singh." "We are investigating further in the case. We are also probing if there are any other individuals involved in the case, " he said. Sub-inspector Sandip Karpe, the investigating officer in the case, said Yadav has been remanded to police custody till September 26.