Shimla, Aug 31 (IANS): The Himachal Pradesh police on Monday said apart from a fake degree scam involving Manav Bharti University in Solan, the financial aspects of the crime needed to be undertaken by the Income Tax Department.

It said the district police of Solan are currently investigating the fake degree scam.

In this regard, three criminal cases have been registered. These are being investigated by a special investigation team.

During the course of investigation, a large number of fake degrees have been found issued by Manav Bharti University to candidates in lieu of money, since its inception in 2013, an official statement said.

The university owned by Manav Bharti Charitable Trust was established under the Manav Bharti University (Establishment and Regulation) Act of 2009.

The trust chairman is Raj Kumar Rana and his wife Ashoni Kanwar and daughter Aina Rana are the trustees.

During investigation, it has been found that a huge movable and immovable property has been acquired by Rana in Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and other places with the funds generated through the issuance of fake degrees.

Rana's wife, son and daughter are currently located in Australia.

Apart from the fake degrees, it is necessary to investigate the financial aspects of the crime for which evaluation of properties and tracking of financial transactions and money trail relating to the crime needs to be undertaken by Income Tax Department, the police said.