Three Mirpurkhas board officials suspended over ‘fraudulent mark sheets’

In a significant development, ex-controller of examinations Ghulam Mohammad, IT Manager Ehsan Mughal, and Superintendent Nadeem Khan of the Mirpurkhas Board have been suspended over allegations of issuing fraudulent mark sheets to candidates applying for MBBS admissions at Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) Jamshoro.

Sources have confided to this scribe that Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Ikram Uddin Ujjan, suspecting the authenticity of some mark sheets, requested the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education in Mirpurkhas to verify the certificates of the candidates seeking admission to the first year of MBBS at LUMHS. The verification process uncovered that 25 candidates had received bloated marks, with 10 of them already admitted to the university.

Despite pressure from some candidates seeking individual verification of their mark sheets, Dr Ujjan remained firm and reported the matter to higher authorities. Subsequently, an inspection team from the chief minister of Sindh’s office conducted a thorough investigation and confirmed the involvement of the examination department officials in the forgery.

The inspection team recommended strict action against the staff involved. The chief minister, through the Universities and Boards Department, instructed the chairman of the Mirpurkhas Board to take severe action against the implicated officers to prevent future incidents of this nature. The entire Secret Branch of the Mirpurkhas Board has been issued show-cause notices in connection with the scandal.