Ranchi, July 2: Skeletons continue to tumble out of the cupboard in connection with the fake PhD racket that rocked Ranchi University (RU) during the nineties.

Ranchi police today detained a Jodhpur-based teacher in this regard. Dinesh Chandra Soni, a government school teacher in Sirohi (Rajasthan), arrived here to get original PhD certificates for his sister Chandrakanta Soni, who also happens to be a teacher.

Dinesh approached head of the Hindi department professor Ravi Bhushan with an application demanding the “issue of the original PhD degree certificate”.

“When we cross-checked the documents regarding PhD registration for year 1996 in our department, we did not find any such name. The applicant had provided copies of a provisional PhD degree certificate purportedly issued by RU alongwith PhD examination results and two letters which were sent to office of registrar on May 29, 2008 and the examination controller on June 1, 2008, with a similar request. When we told the applicant that the provisional certificate appears to be fake he behaved abnormally and tore the documents and the application form,” Bhushan told The Telegraph.

Dinesh tried to leave from Bushan’s chamber but was caught by grade IV employees and was later detained by the Lalpur police. A cautious Bhushan said a detailed inquiry could only ascertain whether the case is fake. Although he maintained “prima facie it appears to be fake.”

The application mentioned that Chandrakanta completed her PhD under the guidance of Balendu Sekhar Tiwary, an RU professor of Hindi, who is facing suspension since 2003 after the Maharashtra police initiated proceedings against him in connection with a fake PhD registration case related to a student of that state.

Varsity sources said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is still conducting a probe into the fake PhD registration case. However, the agency is probing into more fake cases in another constituent unit of RU, PPK College, Bundu.

When contacted, Dinesh pleaded innocence. “We had never imagined that we would be duped by Tiwary. He would visit Jodhpur on academic matters and at a chance meeting my sister contacted him for PhD. Our intention was to get a PhD from RU in less time,” he told The Telegraph at the Lalpur police station.

The victim claimed that on request, professor Tiwary even managed to send a provisional PhD certificate through post. The provisional PhD degree mentions that RU issued (purportedly) the same on January 12, 1999, while the certificate had a number 95/6897.

Chandrakanta, suffering from nervous disorder, said that an original PhD certificate would have helped her get a permanent job.

“We did not know that we would suffer like this. I will lodge an FIR against Tiwary,” Dinesh said.