The case pertaining to British national Paul Francis Meekin, charged with inappropriate advances towards a 13-year-old boy from Trio World School in Kodigehalli, in Sahakar Nagar, took an international twist on Thursday with Interpol, the International Police Organisation, stepping in for a probe.
S.N. Megharik, Additional Director-General of Police (Criminal Investigation Department), the nodal officer for Interpol in Karnataka, has requested the Bangalore police to provide fingerprints and other information on Meekin to Interpol. The agency intends to check whether the accused was involved in any criminal activity in countries where he resided/worked.
Meekin, who was headmaster of Trio World School, was sacked from his job after his arrest on January 23. Though he was granted bail, the accused was re-arrested on February 1 on charges of submitting a fake doctoral certificate of the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, to Trio World School to secure a job. Since his arrest, Meekin has been lodged in the Bangalore Central Prison in Parappana Agrahara.
Meekin is wanted by the police in Bangkok for alleged criminal activities. Also, he is said to have allegedly procured a fake doctoral certificate from a Gulf country, said a senior police official. Interpol will look into his antecedents, the official told The Hindu here on Friday.
Fingerprints
The British police had approached the State CID through Interpol for Meekin's fingerprints and other information. Mr. Megharik has requisitioned the details from the Kodigehalli police. They are expected to respond to Interpol with a copy of the first information report, Meekin's confessional statements and photographs, said the official.
Earlier, the Kodigehalli police had recovered a laptop and a suspected forged doctoral degree certificate from the accused and had sent them to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Hyderabad.
Two cases have been registered against Meekin under Sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the Indian Penal Code, and certain provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 and the Information Technology Act, 2000.
