Police have quizzed Saurabh Singh, the 15-year-old Uttar Pradesh boy who claimed that he had topped an international exam.
"Prima facie, the certificate issued to Saurabh Singh stating his achievement appears suspicious and efforts have been launched to check the veracity of the agency which conducted this test," Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar Singh told PTI in Ballia on Friday.
"It does not even have a stamp of the issuing authority," the SP said.
Revenue Minister Ambika Chaudhary told reporters in Lucknow that 'preliminary inquiry report submitted by Ballia District Magistrate V K Malik to the government says the very certificate issued to Saurav by the agency that conducted the so-called examination was fake as it did not carry either a stamp or monogram'.
Santosh Kumar Singh said the help of different agencies in the field of education was being sought.
Police and local intelligence unit officials quizzed Saurabh for two hours after he returned from Delhi on Thursday night. They also took his statement in writing.
District Magistrate V K Malik had constituted a team led by Additional District Magistrate Ram Surat Yadav to investigate the matter, the SP said.
Besides the certificate, the administration has acquired the passport and other documents of Saurabh. A team has also been dispatched to Kota in Rajasthan where the 15-year-old boy was studying when he applied for the examination on the basis of an advertisement.
Meanwhile, Saurabh told reporters that he was confident of his success and was not discouraged because of the denial issued by NASA.
He also gave a detailed account of his meeting with President A P J Abdul Kalam in New Delhi on Wednesday.