The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Greater Chennai City Police arrested two agents and two owners of a centre operating at Villivakkam for distributing fake B.E and B.Tech degree certificates to youth aspiring to go abroad.
The police arrested Riyas, 40, and Mahesh, 40, who ran ‘Indian Institute of Integrated Technology and Science Research Centre’ in Villivakkam, and Rishi Kesh and Divakar, from Andhra Pradesh, who worked for them as agents.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, CCB-II, N.S. Nisha said a special team stumbled upon the institute, which was unrecognised, following an investigation into fake education certificates submitted by two men during visa application processing at the United States (U.S.) Consulate in Chennai.
On November 16, the Assistant Regional Security Officer of the consulate filed a complaint that Sai Ram Reddy and another from Telangana had submitted forged documents during visa processing. The applicants admitted they had submitted forged certificates of B.Sc Computer Science from Andhra University. Mark sheets, migration certificates, and transfer certificates from National Institute of Open Schooling were also found to be forged.
The two students said they had obtained the certificates from Rishi Kesh and Divakar. The police nabbed the duo. When they were interrogated, they revealed that they had obtained the certificates for ₹10,000 from the centre in Villivakkam and sold them for ₹2 lakh to ₹4 lakh, including the visa processing fee and other charges.
Further investigation conducted by the CCB revealed that they had not completed any course from any university or any educational institution. Instead, the officers found the duo had obtained these fake certificates from visa processing agents on a payment of ₹1.5 lakh. On their information, the CCB team reached Telangana and nabbed the two agents who confessed that they procured the certificates from the centre run by Riyas, 40, and Mahesh, 40, in Villivakkam. Based on the confession, police conducted a raid at the centre and arrested both.
Additional Deputy Commissioner S. Muthuvelpandi said, “Our investigation revealed that the centre was being run from the same premises since 2009 and they falsely claimed that the institution was recognised. The centre gave certificates to many in the last few years and even issued B.E., B.Tech and other degree certificates.”
“They also issued certificates to visa processing agents on payment. These agents who sent aspirants abroad on fake education credentials had approached the centre and obtained those fake certificates for ₹10,000 or less while the agents made ₹2 lakh to ₹4 lakh for processing such visa,“ said another police officer.
