Agali DySP Muraleedharan said the police have convincing evidence that forgery has been committed in the certificates submitted by Vidya.
Former SFI leader K Vidya, who is accused of forgery of experience certificate. (Supplied)
The Kerala police, after careful examination of the documents and seals from Maharaja’s College, confirmed on Monday, 12 June, that the experience certificate submitted by Vidya K Maniyanodi was forged.
According to the complaint filed by Ernakulam-based Maharaja’s College, Vidya — a former student — forged an experience certificate that stated that she had been a “guest lecturer” in the Malayalam Department of the college.
She reportedly submitted it to an interview panel of a college in Attapady in the Palakkad district of the state.
The seal and logo on the certificate made some of the panellists suspicious. They cross-checked with Maharaja’s College and were told that no guest lecturer was appointed in the Malayalam Department for more than a decade.
“No guest lecturers have been appointed in the Malayalam Department of the college in the last 10 years. The emblem clearly shows that it is fake,” Maharaja’s College Principal VS Joy told reporters after the incident was reported.
Agali Deputy Superintendent Muraleedharan N told South First that the police were convinced that the certificates were forged. He said that it was done using a computer with a photo-editing tool.
The officer visited the campus on Monday and gathered the documents from the college authorities to examine and arrive at this conclusion.
“We have seized the certificate submitted by Vidya to the Agali College, and we are inquiring about the other documents from Maharaja’s College. Further investigation will be done by the Agali Circle inspector. Since the inspector had to intervene in another case in Agali, I arrived at Maharaja’s Collve to find the details,” said Muraleedharan.
According to the police, they also gathered CCTV visuals of Vidya entering the campus of the Attapady college, and that also would be examined. A forensic examination of the evidence would be done in the coming days.
“The is no room for doubt in this case. We are sure that forgery has happened,” said Muraleedharan
He told South First that since Vidya was absconding, the police had not been able to interrogate her.
The Agali Deputy Superintendent also added that an FIR has been lodged against her under Sections 465 (forgery), 471 (using forged documents as genuine), and 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.
“The principal of Maharaja’s College told us that the college authorities had not issued a certificate in this regard so far, and that the college keeps a copy of all the certificates that are issued. When we examined the seal on the certificate, it was found to be smaller was shorter than the original seal. We have taken all the details of the seal,” said Muraleedharan.
To trace Vidya, the police are contacting her friends and looking into the calls made by her.
Meanwhile, Vidya has moved the Kerala High Court seeking anticipatory bail in the forgery case against her.
Her petition was listed for hearing before Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas on Friday, 9 June, and the court asked the prosecution to indicate its stand on the matter by 20 June, the next date of the hearing.
She claimed in her plea that the case against her was “initiated for political reasons” and at any rate “the allegations on the face of it do not attract the offences alleged”.
In her plea, Vidya claimed that while the first two offences were available. She also said there were irregularities in the manner in which she was charged with the third offence.
“Since a serious non-bailable offence is alleged against the applicant, she apprehends imminent arrest. Hence, this application for anticipatory bail,” the plea said.
Another reason cited by her for protection from arrest was that she is in her mid-20s, unmarried and “if she is arrested and incarcerated, the same would result in a travesty of justice”.
The Vidya case gained public attention after PM Arsho, a former postgraduate student of Maharaja’s College in Ernakulam and state secretary of SFI, was accused of clearing the third semester without appearing for the exams.
In an interview with South First, Arsho denied the accusations against him.
However, when asked about the controversy over Vidya’s certificate, Arsho requested not to club both issues together.
He said that he was not the right person to respond to the allegations against her.
(With PTI inputs)
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