Spelling mistake in university name lands student in police net at airport

Around 3 am on Monday, Jenil Kankotiya from Surat in Gujarat was getting his documents screened at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Terminus (CSMIA) before taking an early morning flight to London

MUMBAI: A spelling mistake in the name of the university that he claimed to have studied in landed a 22-year-old student in police custody at the airport on Monday.

“When checking the marksheets and degree certificate that the student had provided to the British consulate to get his visa, we found a discrepancy in the spelling of the institution. During subsequent questioning, he admitted that the degree certificate was forged,” said an official from Sahar police (HT PHOTO)

Around 3 am on Monday, Jenil Kankotiya from Surat in Gujarat was getting his documents screened at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Terminus (CSMIA) before taking an early morning flight to London. He had secured a student visa for the United Kingdom where he was going to pursue a master’s degree in business management, the complaint filed against him by the immigration authorities stated. At the time of scanning his travel documents, the immigration authorities also checked his education credentials as he was going on a student visa.

“When checking the marksheets and degree certificate that the student had provided to the British consulate to get his visa, we found a discrepancy in the spelling of the institution. During subsequent questioning, he admitted that the degree certificate was forged,” said an official from Sahar police.

Kankotiya told the authorities that he had paid ₹90,000 to acquire the forged degree from an agent named Rahul. He wished to migrate to the UK for better prospects, he told the police during his interrogation.

Once the forgery was prima facie established, the immigration authorities handed the student over to the Sahar police station where an FIR was registered against him under sections 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 471 (using forged documents as genuine with fraudulent intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

Police said he was produced before a metropolitan magistrate court on Tuesday morning and is currently in their custody. “We are also trying to track down the agent who provided him the forged documents. That might lead us to several such immigration frauds or other forgeries of criminal nature,” said the official.