The Kayamkulam police probing the alleged production of fake degree certificate by former Students’ Federation of India (SFI) leader Nikhil Thomas for pursuing post-graduation have taken into custody a person who runs the Palarivattom-based agency that reportedly fabricated the certificate.
The police nabbed Saju S. Sasidharan from Palarivattom on Thursday night. He had allegedly fabricated the B.Com degree certificate in the name of Kalinga University, Raipur, using which Nikhil secured admission for M.Com at MSM college, Kayamkulam, in the 2021-23 batch.
He is also suspected to have fabricated the mark list, transfer certificate, migration certificate, and provisional certificate. “He will have to be questioned for getting more details,” said sources in the Kayamkulam police.
The agency run by the accused remains closed now after he was allegedly involved in a visa fraud case. He was about to be taken to Kayamkulam. The police had already made it clear that he would also be arraigned as an accused. His arrest is likely to be recorded shortly.
The police had already arrested Nikhil and Abin C. Raj, former SFI Kayamkulam area president and Alappuzha district secretariat member, who had allegedly arranged the fake degree certificate for Nikhil. Abin was arrested on Tuesday after he arrived at the Kochi airport from the Maldives the night before.
Nikhil had reportedly told the investigators that he had arranged the certificate from the agency in Kochi with the help of Abin to whom he claimed to have paid ₹2 lakh in 2020. The police had also landed evidence for the said bank transaction.
Kerala University had since then cancelled Nikhil’s M.Com registration.
