LUCKNOW, April 2 -- 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....