Bhagalpur, Dec. 6: The Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University is under the state vigilance department's radar following recovery of fake degrees from some teachers appointed in different government schools.

The department had asked the varsity to crosscheck all degrees distributed among students. Sources said varsity vice-chancellor Rama Shanker Dubey constituted a panel on November 11 to probe the episode and assured completion of the same within a week.

Some teachers who were recently appointed in government schools in districts like Bhagalpur, Munger, Banka, Jamui, Lakhisarai, Seikhpura and Khagaria were found in possession of fake certificates. "There were complaints of large-scale irregularities in the appointment of teachers in government schools from many parts of Bihar, including seven districts in eastern Bihar," said a vigilance department source. "It has also come to my knowledge that many candidates in eastern Bihar managed fake degrees from the varsity for jobs (as teachers)."

Neither vice-chancellor Dubey nor controller of exams Arun Kumar Singh could be contacted for comment.

The varsity's public relations officer, Arun Kumar Mishra, said a committee constituted by the VC has started verifying facts. "I'm not on the panel so I can't give details, but some interesting facts have emerged," he said. "Many degrees the department provided to the varsity seem fake. Candidates themselves prepared fake digital degrees and marksheets. The varsity can't be held responsible for this."

CCS convener Sonu alleged that such fake degrees are available in the market with the connivance of varsity staff. "Earlier, I had submitted 40 such fake degrees where the marks obtained by the candidate appeared to be tampered with," Sonu alleged.

He cited the example of Nilesh Kumar, a government middle school teacher from Kahalgaon, who, during his appointment, submitted marksheets of his part III (Hons). He was a student from SSB College, Kahalgaon and passed BSc (Hons) in 2013. His marksheet showed he passed the exam in the first division with 63.2 per cent marks, including 70 marks in paper V, 68 marks in paper VI and 64 marks in paper VIII. But the varsity's tabulation register shows his actual marks as 10, 08 and 04 in the papers mentioned. "This is a clear indication of irregularities at the varsity. The Tomar episode was not an isolated instance," he said.