What began as a routine immigration check at Mumbai’s international airport soon uncovered a long-running fraud targeting young job-seekers and students planning to study abroad.
A 39-year-old man from Gujarat was intercepted on Sunday at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport following his arrival from Bangkok. Immigration officials detained the suspect and later handed him over to Sahar police, who arrested him for cheating, forgery, and other offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The accused has been identified as Prathamesh Shirishbhai Maniyar, a resident of Jamnagar. Police said Maniyar was stopped during immigration clearance after he failed to provide satisfactory answers when questioned about his profession. This prompted airport officials to conduct a detailed inquiry.
During questioning, authorities allegedly learnt that Maniyar was part of a racket involved in arranging college admissions and supplying fake educational certificates and marksheets. The operation mainly targeted students seeking to pursue higher education abroad.
According to the airport police, Maniyar is suspected to be the mastermind behind the racket and is believed to have been supplying forged educational documents across the country for the past 10 years. As stated in the FIR, he promised admissions to colleges in Canada and the United States but instead provided fake degrees and marksheets to aspiring students.
Investigators further revealed that Maniyar allegedly charged amounts ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh for the forged documents. He is said to have contacted students through a network of agents and supplied fake certificates via intermediaries operating in cities such as Jaipur, Bhopal, Ambala, and other locations.
During the examination of his mobile phones, officials reportedly recovered multiple forged documents stored in the gallery. These included marksheets, provisional certificates, and degrees claimed to be issued by the Gujarat board and universities such as Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University, ISBM University, Mansarovar Global University, Arni University, and Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut. The FIR noted that the bogus documents were prepared in the names of different students.
Further investigation into the racket is currently underway.
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