The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : City emerging hub of fake papers

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Wednesday, Feb 27, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

City emerging hub of fake papers

Staff Reporter

Chennai American Consulate traces false certificates to Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad is already an IT hub. It is on the way to becoming a centre for international aviation. On the flip side, it is slowly but surely achieving another distinction, albeit dubious, of becoming the hub for fake educational certificates!

More than 60 per cent of the fake educational certificates presented by Visa aspirants at the American Consulate, Chennai, are reportedly found to have originated in Hyderabad. Police sources said that the Royapettah police, under whose jurisdiction the Consulate comes, recently appraised their counterparts in Hyderabad of this finding.

They cited the case of a Hyderabad woman Nazma Begum who secured student Visa and flew to America in July 2007. She was deported from the airport after the officials found that her educational certificates were fabricated.

Case instance

The same woman approached them for a Visa with a different name of Shabana Hakani recently. To the dismay of the Consulate staff, she presented educational certificates in the name of Hakani this time. Subsequently, she admitted to police that she got the fake certificates from Hyderabad through some agents.

The city police, having busted innumerable fake documents racket, too feel that some areas like Mallepally in the city having become dens for fake documents.

What added strength to the observation was that the police reportedly found three family members of an MP from the State had secured Visas to the US by presenting fabricated educational certificates. However, the complicity of the MP in securing such certificates was not part of the police investigation. But his family members managing to secure alleged fake certificates naturally endorsed the observation of the Chennai police.

With computers, scanners and printers available at affordable costs, making fake certificates became easier. “If format of an original certificate is obtained, thousands of copies with different names can be made in a couple of days,” the police said.

Terrorists in fray

Recently, police learnt that even terrorists were securing fake documents from Hyderabad to procure travel documents and avoid being tracked down posing as students or professionals. “We saw some fake documents HuJI terror cell commander Mohd. Abdul Shahid had arranged for his militants but is yet to ascertain if they were made in Hyderabad,” a police officer said.

Following an alert from the Chennai police, the Hyderabad police are planning to set up a special cell to pursue cases relating to fake documents.

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