Certificate scam: Police arrest middlemen who provided fake certificates to students who wanted to study abroad

A major breakthrough was achieved in the case in which seven persons were arrested with fake education certificates when they arrived at Kochi International Airport to board flights to the UK with student visas, the middlemen who provided the fake certificates were arrested by the police on Thursday. Nafsal, 38, from Kallungal Valappil, Trithala, Palakkad provided them with the fake certificates, said the police. The accused collected Rs 90,000 each from two students, who were offloaded and later arrested, and provided them with fake degree certificates of Madurai Kamaraj University and plus-two certificates of Maharashtra State Board, Pune.

According to the police, Nafsal worked in a hostel mess in London for a while and was acquainted with a Hyderabad native there. "It is suspected that he obtained the fake certificates from this Hyderabad native. Of the Rs 90,000 collected from the students, Rs 30,000 was for Nafsal and the rest of the amount, Rs 60,000, for the Hyderabad native. He learnt that these students required certificates through a friend," said an officer. The police carried out a search at his residence in Trithala.

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The accused, Nafsal, received the certificates via a courier from Hyderabad and he handed it over directly to the students. He provided fake certificates to those who enrolled in master's courses at Kingston University, UK. Many pay exorbitant amounts for fake education certificates to go to the UK for continuing higher education, said police.

On Friday, four such persons were caught at the emigration wing by officials and were removed from the flight minutes before take-off. Subsequently, three youngsters were offloaded on Saturday as well, taking the total number of persons caught in two consecutive days to seven. The fake certificates of Annamalai University, Madurai Kamaraj University and Bharatiya Vidyapeeth and Maharashtra State Board, Pune were found with them. "Emigration officials grew suspicious after those coming with these certificates were found fake. Hence, they stepped up vigil and picked up eight persons in a duration of two days," said a police officer.

Following the incident, the Ernakulam Rural Police constituted a high-level investigation team under SP K Karthick. "More persons will be arrested in the case," said SP.