The crime branch of Jammu and Kashmir Police claimed yesterday to have exposed a major scam at a IGNOU centre in Kathua district, where nearly 4,000 students were issued bogus degrees without appearing in examinations.

The scam at the Indira Gandhi National Open University centre was unearthed after the police received an input that a person - identified as Prashant Bandari - and his associates were involved in fraudulently conducting examinations and giving admissions to students at the centre established in Billawar town in 2014-15, a crime branch spokesman said.