The Bureau of Immigration (BoI) at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad, has exposed a scheme wherein students used fake academic documents to secure US and UK student visas.
Over the past two weeks, four individuals were apprehended during routine pre-departure checks, despite clearing embassy interviews, as per a report by The Times of India from today, Monday, June 23.
Here are a few cases:
- June 1: Pakeeru Ramesh Reddy, 28, from Nalgonda, with a fake BSc degree from Madurai Kamaraj University was detained. He confessed to obtaining it via an agent, Ashok, from Sri Dhanalakshmi Overseas Private Limited. Both were arrested after the scam.
- June 9: Mohammad Shahabazuddin, 26, from Hyderabad, was caught with forged BCom, BTech, and Intermediate certificates. He admitted to purchasing an SSC certificate for Rs 1.5 lakh and fabricating others. He was taken into custody.
- June 10: Mohammad Azhar Hussain, 25, from Miryalaguda, was stopped with a fake degree from Capital University, Jharkhand, and a forged job letter arranged by agent Bharat from Emerge Migration Overseas. He was remanded.
- June 12: Srikanth Marthala, 26, from Guntur, was detained with a fake BTech degree from Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation, purchased for Rs 40,000 from agent Mohan Krishna. He was arrested.
BoI officials noted the involvement of education consultancies and are intensifying efforts to track agents and firms behind the fraud. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) police are expanding the probe to dismantle the network, according to The Times of India report.
