Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Hindu
The Hindu
National
The Hindu Bureau

Abin, who arranged fake certificate for Nikhil, arrested

Abin C. Raj, who allegedly arranged a fake degree certificate for Students’ Federation of India (SFI) former leader Nikhil Thomas, was arrested by the Kayamkulam police on Tuesday after he arrived at Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery from the Maldives the night before.

Investigators took Nikhil and Abin to a now-defunct agency in Kochi, which provided the phoney certificate, as part of evidence collection.

The police last week arrested Nikhil on charges of forgery and cheating after he gained admission to MCom (2021-23 batch) at Milad E-Sherif Memorial (MSM) College, Kayamkulam, using a forged BCom certificate. Nikhil told the investigators that he arranged the certificate from an agency in Kochi with the help of SFI former Kayamkulam area president and Alappuzha district secretariat member Abin to whom he paid ₹2 lakh in 2020. The police made Abin, hailing from Kandalloor, a co-accused in the case. He will be produced before a local court on Wednesday.

Nikhil studied BCom at MSM College during 2017-20. However, he did not clear the exam. Later, he joined the MCom course at the same college in January 2022 with a 2017-20 BCom certificate purportedly issued by Kalinga University, Raipur.

The police recovered the fake certificate from Nikhil’s house at Kayamkulam earlier this week.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.