In one of its biggest crackdowns on Kathmandu-based rackets involved in faking student certificates and other documents, the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) has nabbed 15 persons, including students and operators of eight consultancies and language centres, who had been sending individuals to Japan on student visas illegally.
None of the arrestees, however, were going to Japan with the purpose of studying, police said. The fake students arrested were all vying for employment in Japan.

A series of CIB’s onslaught began with the arrest of one Yam Bahadur Gurung, 29, who fell into the police trap at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) on May 15. According to police, Gurung, a temporary resident of Lazimpat, was carrying faked certificates, which included a government’s No Objection Letter and transcripts of +2 level issued by the Higher Secondary Education Board.

It was later revealed through a preliminary investigation that Gurung had paid Rs 1,080,000 to Santosh Basnet, operator of Kimino Japanese Language School, for the same purpose. Acting on a tip-off, police reached out to those working at lower rings of the racket run by Basnet.

Basnet handed over Rs 8,500 to one Bikram Pandey to arrange for a character certificate and transcript in Gurung’s name. Pandey kept Rs 2,000 and handed over the rest to another Kiran Kafle, who again kept Rs 2,000 and passed on the job to Suradraj Pathak. He also pocketed Rs 2,000 and rolled the ball to one Chandra Gurung, the man working at the lowest rung of the gang, who got Rs 2,500. All except Chandra were later arrested.

The second haul in the series came when one Maya Tamang, 21, was arrested from the TIA on May 21. She was also carrying fake documents, including a transcript of BBS issued by Tribhuvan University. She had paid Rs 955,800 to one Indra Kumar Lama, proprietor of Mynichi Japanese Language School, Bagbazar. Lama has been absconding, police said.

Similarly, Pramod Bhandari, 23, who was carrying fake character certificates of BBS belonging to Nepal Commerce Campus (NCC), issued illegally by Option Education Consultancy Pvt Ltd, was arrested on May 24. Police also nabbed Nabin Gautam, owner of the Putalisadak-based consultancy. Bhandari had paid Rs 975,000 to the consultancy to arrange his tickets to Japan.

Another Keshav Chandra Sapkota, 31, was also arrested on May 23 from the TIA. Having paid Rs 903,000 to one Dipendra Adhikari, operator of Nepaaru Institute, Putalisadak, Sapkota was about to travel to Japan with fake MBS certificates issued by TU. Adhikari, however, has been on the run.

Among the other arrestees are Raju Yonjan, 25, and Amir Liwi, 29, owner of Bhaktapur Japanese Language Institute, Suryabinayak. Liwi had faked the certificates for Yonjan for Rs 532,000. Sanju Tamang, 21, and Jiwan Shrisha, 23, who were about to go to Japan with fake certificates issued by Ebisu Education Institute and Tokyo Education Foundation were arrested on May 24 and 26 respectively. Owners of both the consultancies Ramesh Tamang and Ramesh Chhetri, are absconding.

Similarly, police arrested Rabi Neupae, 23, and Prakash Bahadur Singh, 31, who were about to go to Japan with certificates illegally made by United Study Centre Pvt Ltd. Bishnu Giri, owner of the consultancy is absconding, police said.

According to CIB Spokesperson SP Ishwor Babu Karki, an individual found faking official documents, could face a jail term up to one year, as per the existing law. The arrestees have been forwarded to Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Range, Hanumandhoka, for further prosecution, he said.

source: the kathmandu post,4 june 2013