Alappuzha: In a breakthrough, the police have recovered the fake degree certificate that former Students' Federation of India (SFI) leader Nikhil Thomas had submitted at the MSM College, Kayamkulam, to secure M Com admission.
The forged B Com certificate of Raipur-based Kalinga University were seized from an almirah in Nikhil’s room at his house, near the Kayamkulam market.
Along with the B Com degree certificate, the investigation team recovered three years' mark lists and a migration certificate; apparently these were found to be forged too, according to the police.
The cops brought Nikhil to his house as part of the evidence gathering procedure on Sunday. The exercise, which started at 11.30 am, lasted till 2 pm. Kayamkulam Inspector Y Muhammed Shafi is leading the investigation.
Nikhil collected the documents from the college a month ago soon after he got the of attempts by certain leaders of the Kerala Students Union and his rivals within the SFI to expose the fraud, a source revealed.
A functionary of the Muslim Students Federation (MSF) had even asked the college for documents submitted by Nikhil by exercising the Right to Information option on March 30. However, the college authorities replied personal matters could not be shared.
Scrutiny of bank account
Meanwhile, the police collected details of Nikhil’s bank account. The cops are examining Nikhil's transactions.
The investigation team had earlier found out that Nikhil had handed over Rs 2 lakh to former SFI district secretariat member Abin C Raj back in 2020 as payment to procure the forged certificates.
The investigators found evidence of Nikhil sending the amount to the bank account of Abin’s mother.
Key evidence likely in mobile phone
The cops couldn’t recover Nikhil’s mobile phone even during the checks on Sunday. His mobile phone was found switched off at 7 pm on June 19. During the interrogation, Nikhil told the cops that he had dumped his mobile phone into the Karipuzha canal from the bridge at Kayamkulam Park Junction before going into hiding. However, the cops found his statement to be false after going through the CCTV footage collected from the spot.
The cops suspect the mobile phone has crucial evidence.
The phone also likely contains certain information related to a feud between two factions of the CPM. This too might be one reason the former SFI leader is attempting to mislead, a police source said.
