LUCKNOW, April 3 -- Fresh dismissals in Mainpuri have strengthened indications that forged documents may have been used for years to secure government teaching jobs in Uttar Pradesh, with seven teachers appointed as far back as 2013 and 2014 found to have used allegedly fake UPTET-2011 records. The development adds a new dimension to the widening recruitment scam in the state's basic education department, suggesting that the use of forged eligibility certificates was not a recent aberration but part of a pattern that may have gone undetected for over a decade. Officials said the seven teachers were dismissed on Wednesday after a high court-monitored verification exercise found their UPTET-2011 mark sheets and certificates to be forged. What has particularly alarmed the department is the timeline: six of those removed were appointed in 2013 and one in 2014, indicating that questionable appointments may have entered the system during earlier recruitment cycles and continued unchecked for years. The fresh action follows multiple FIRs in Sitapur, where teachers were similarly accused of securing jobs using fake TET records, pointing to a possible statewide modus operandi in the controversial 12,460 assistant teacher recruitment drive. Basic Shiksha Adhikari Deepika Gupta said the dismissals followed failed online verification of TET-2011 records and a subsequent re-examination carried out in compliance with Allahabad High Court directions issued in 2025. The re-verification by the Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad, Prayagraj confirmed the documents were fake, following which action was taken. Basic Shiksha Adhikari Deepika Gupta said the dismissals followed failed online verification of TET-2011 records and a subsequent re-examination carried out in compliance with Allahabad high court directions issued on March 2 and April 15, 2025. "The records were re-verified through the UP Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad, Prayagraj. The board's inquiry report confirmed that the mark sheets of seven teachers were fake, following which they were dismissed from service," Gupta said. Those dismissed are Harvendra Kumar, Sheela Devi, Usha Devi, Chandrakant, Veerpal Singh, Vikas Chandra and Surekha, posted in schools across Kishni, Barnahal and Ghiror blocks of Mainpuri district. The dismissal report has been forwarded to senior education authorities, including the director-general of school education and the director of basic education, and is expected to feed into the ongoing wider district-wise audit. Earlier, at least nine teachers were booked in Sitapur after verification reportedly found that the roll numbers mentioned in their UPTET documents had never been officially issued. The emerging pattern has raised serious concerns that forged documents may have been used as an organised route to secure appointments over several years, potentially involving middlemen, fake certificate networks and lapses in verification at the time of recruitment. The statewide audit was initiated after the Allahabad high court, while hearing petitions related to disputed appointments, flagged the disturbing pattern of candidates allegedly obtaining jobs using forged certificates or by concealing material facts. Officials said similar action is likely in other districts as digital verification of old recruitment records continues. Sources in the department said more dismissals, FIRs and salary recovery proceedings may follow, particularly in cases where appointments dating back a decade are found to have been secured through forged educational documents. htc...