Hyderabad: Eight private colleges booked for submitting fake fire NOCs

HYDERABAD: A case was registered here against eight private colleges for allegedly submitting fake/forged Fire NOCs claiming that they were issued by HYDRAA, police said on Wednesday.

As per a government order, Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) is empowered to inspect and issue Fire NOCs to non-high-rise buildings, as entrusted by the Director General, Telangana Fire Disaster Response, Emergency and Civil Defence Department under the provisions of the Telangana Fire Services Act, 1999, within the jurisdiction of the Telangana Core Urban Region (TCUR).

Accordingly, several junior college managements have been submitting applications to HYDRAA for obtaining valid Fire NOCs. An official of HYDRAA, in a complaint filed recently with Lake Police Station, said certain junior college managements submitted fabricated, forged, and fake Fire NOCs to the District Intermediate Education Officers (DIEOs) for obtaining academic affiliations and operational permissions.

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Police suspect more colleges may be involved in fake fire NOC racket

In this connection, a letter was addressed to Telangana Board of Intermediate Education to share the Fire NOC copies submitted by the junior college managements for the academic years 2025-26 and 2026-27 to HYDRAA for verification of the genuineness of such certificates.

The District Intermediate Education Officers of Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri and Sangareddy Districts forwarded a total of 76 Fire NOCs to HYDRAA for verification of genuineness, which were submitted by the different junior colleges.

Upon verification, eight Fire NOCs were confirmed to be entirely fake/forged, and a letter was addressed to the concerned District Intermediate Education Officers to cancel the permission/affiliation of the eight junior colleges that have submitted fake/forged Fire NOCs, the complainant said.

The complainant sought registration of a case against the managements of the eight junior colleges and a thorough investigation to identify and apprehend the individuals involved in the creation, fabrication and distribution of the forged certificates.

Based on the complaint, a case under relevant sections of BNS was registered, and further investigation has been taken up, a Police official said, adding they were also verifying if some more colleges were involved in the racket.