A special investigation squad of the Ernakulam rural police arrested a man in a case related to the forging of education certificates and travel documents to send youngsters abroad for higher studies.
The arrested man was identified as Nafsal, 38, of Thrithala in Palakkad. He is accused of being a mediator in arranging the forged certificates.
He allegedly arranged forged degree certificates of Madurai Kamaraj University for two students and a Plus Two certificate of an educational institution in Maharashtra for ₹90,000 each. He had reportedly worked in a hostel mess in London for a short period.
He allegedly procured the forged certificates from a person, originally from Hyderabad, he had met there. The certificates he had received from Hyderabad through a courier service were allegedly handed over to the students. Of the ₹90,000, the Hyderbad resident received ₹60,000 and the rest went to Nafsal.
He told the police that he had come to know about the requirements of the students through a friend. The investigating team also inspected his house at Thrithala.
The forged certificates were reportedly arranged for doing M.Sc International Business Management Studies at Kingston University in the United Kingdom. Seven students headed to the UK were offloaded by the emigration wing at the Cochin International Airport Limited on two successive days for producing forged certificates. “We have expanded the probe and more people will be arrested shortly,” said District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) K. Karthik.
The investigating squad comprises Inspector P.M. Baiju, sub inspector Aneesh K. Das, senior civil police officers Naveen Das, Jismon, and Kunjumon.
