DNC lecturer accepts he forged documents

 Dhanwate National College lecturer Pradip Hadke, who was accused of forging documents for voting from the management category during the  Nagpur University's senate polls, has reportedly confessed to his crime on Tuesday. He filed his reply before officiating registrar Mahesh Yenkie through his counsel and tendered an apology.

Confirming the development, Yenkie refused to reveal what action would be taken on Hadke due to the ongoing counting. "NU will decide at a later date if an FIR has to be lodged against Hadke," said Yenkie.

Hadke, however, continued to remain on denial mode and refuted all charges. He again gave vague replies to TOI.

The lecturer voted on bogus documents as management representative of Hislop Education Society during the polls conducted on Sunday. After his name came to the fore, Hislop Society secretary Sudipta Singh formally lodged a complaint with NU after which Hadke was served with a show cause notice. He was asked to file a reply by Yenkie after a brief hearing in the presence of NU counsel Bhanudas Kulkarni.

Sources, however, revealed that efforts to 'protect' the tainted lecturer were already on as he belonged to one of the leading groups contesting the polls. Those heading the groups were reportedly putting huge pressure on NU authorities, including the new vice chancellor, not to file an FIR against him. The NU counsel too had told Hadke to withdraw his form to save him from problems, but academicians stated that it could not be done.

Singh stated that he had done his job of pointing out bogus voting to the NU officials and "now the ball was in its court". "The crime is related to NU's senate polls and our society has nothing to do with it. Now, NU should take action and lodge a police complaint," he said.

He added that it was a serious blunder and if NU officials were not taking any action they will be held equally responsible in the crime. "There will be no point in claiming that they had conducted a free and fair senate polls," he lamented.

As reported by TOI on Tuesday, 25 cases of bogus voting were reported in the senate elections where many bigwigs including education barons were contesting. Moreover, wives, drivers and peons of many candidates were enrolled as voters in the management constituency from various colleges on forged documents. But nobody dared to come out in the open as these candidates belonged to a strong group in the university circles.