PRAYAGRAJ, Aug. 11 -- The crackdown on lawyers practising allegedly on the basis of forged educational credentials intensified on Monday and FIRs were registered against 62 advocates by around 8 pm. Officials indicated that the number could rise further as complaints against more individuals were being processed. According to sources, the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh has lodged formal complaints against 105 lawyers at the Civil Lines police station, alleging that they secured registration as advocates using fake degrees and marksheets. The irregularities reportedly surfaced during the verification of lawyers' educational records with various universities. In a complaint to police, Bar Council secretary RK Shukla said the verification drive was undertaken following an Allahabad High Court order dated June 3, directing an investigation into the educational qualifications and records of lawyers registered with the council. During the scrutiny process, several degrees and mark sheets were found to be allegedly forged. Based on the Bar Council's complaints, the Civil Lines police registered FIRs against several lawyers on Monday. The accused lawyers belong to various districts, including Prayagraj, Kaushambi and Pratapgarh, as well as other parts of the state. Sources said that after discrepancies were detected, the Bar Council issued notices to the concerned advocates seeking explanations. However, no satisfactory responses have reportedly been received so far. Officials at the Civil Lines police station in Prayagraj said they received complaints naming a large number of individuals from the Bar Council. An 82-year-old resident of Tilak Nagar in Prayagraj's Allahpur area was allegedly cheated of nearly Rs 11.92 lakh by cyber fraudsters who lured him with the promise of obtaining a senior citizen card through an online application process. According to police, the victim, Shiv Shankar Prasad, came across a Facebook advertisement related to senior citizen cards on July 18 and clicked on the link provided. Soon after, he received a phone call from a person identifying himself as Amit Kumar, who claimed to be associated with the card issuance process. The caller reportedly informed Prasad that the application procedure had commenced and even transferred a token amount of Rs 1 to gain his confidence. Subsequently, the fraudsters allegedly gained access to his banking details and carried out a series of unauthorised online transactions. Police said that money was withdrawn from Prasad's bank accounts between July 18 and July 30, resulting in a total loss of approximately Rs 11.92 lakh. The fraud came to light on July 31, when Prasad checked his account balance. He then lodged a police complaint. Georgetown Police have registered a case and started an investigation. A 16-year-old boy was killed and around 30 pilgrims were injured when a speeding pickup truck overturned on the Prayagraj-Kanpur National Highway near Malak Bhayal village in Kaushambi on Monday morning. According to police, residents of Nizampur Puraini village under Pipri police station were going to offer prayers at the Shaktipeeth Kada Dham. The accident occurred when the driver tried to overtake a bus at high speed. Eyewitnesses said the truck rolled over several times before coming to a halt. Locals and police personnel rushed to the spot and launched rescue operations. All the injured were rushed to the district medical college where doctors declared Ramsharan (16), dead on arrival....