Mumbai Crime: Case registered Against 24 Candidates Over Fake Maritime Competency Certificates

Mumbai: Case has been registered against the 24 candidates in the Engineering and Nautical Department, who got the job by creating a fake Certificate of Competency (COC) in the Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping). DG Shipping is the premier office of maritime administration and maritime education in the country. Infiltrating the system of the organization and registering candidates incorrectly is a serious matter.

A case has been registered on the complaint of Praveen Nair (age 49), who is working as Deputy Director General (Technical) in the office of DG Shipping (Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Government of India) in Kanjur. According to the complaint, on March 15, 2024, Chief Examiner of the Engineering Department Ajit Sukumar sent an e-mail to Nautical Consultant Captain Abul Kalam Azad to Glanswan Ship Management Pvt. Ltd., Kharghar. Ltd., said that a suspicious inclusion of Mishal Dev Anand, who works in the e-governance system, was found. It was revealed that the COC booklet submitted by Anand was not issued by DG Shipping.

After investigation, it was found that the fake entries were made using the login ID of this Kolkata examination center. It was seen that a total of 13 fake entries were made for the engineering department and a total of 2 fake entries for nautical. Therefore, the relevant login ID was closed. Upon checking the records of 5 other examination centers along with the Kolkata center, it was revealed that the data of a total of 102 fake candidates, 46 for the engineering department and 56 for nautical, were uploaded into the system through the IDs of Kolkata.

What exactly is a COC booklet?

The Nashik Government Press prints color-coded Certificates of Competency (COC) booklets: red for Chief Engineers, grey for Second Engineers, orange for Third/Fourth Engineers, and maroon for Electro-Technical Engineers. These laminated booklets, personalized with the candidate's name, are sent via speed post. However, some individuals have circumvented this process by creating fraudulent booklets to obtain employment.

An audit of 46 engineering department employees hired in the past two to three years revealed COC records for 24 individuals. Among these, 21 COCs were copies, and 3 were identified as counterfeit.