Cops study exam records of foreigners who deliberately flunk, get their visa extended and engage in illegal activities
Cops study exam records of foreigners who deliberately flunk, get their visa extended and engage in illegal activities
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If you are a foreign student in any of the city colleges, make sure you concentrate on your studies and pass your exams each year. And this is not just career advice.
The city police are now on the look out for students who overstay in the city on their student visa by deliberately flunking in exams. A 17-year-old Nigerian Ismail Khadus Jalil pursuing a course from a college in Kondhwa had recently been detained for knocking down an on-duty constable at Kondhwa. Jalil also did not have a driving licence. It was later found that Jalil had come to the city on a student visa that had expired and he had overstayed.
Eye on culprits
According to faculty members across colleges who keep a sharp eye on foreign students now, some students deliberately fail in exams to continue living on student visas and then they engage in criminal activities.
"A few foreigners enrol as students to get visas and also to avoid unnecessary attention. In reality they never attend classes or wish to pass the exams. They are here for other reasons," said a senior professor from Fergusson College.
Officials at the Pune University International Students Center where 14,000 foreign students from over 100 countries are registered, are on the look out for such students.
"Flunking one term or a year is okay, but if students fail repeatedly and do not attend classes, then it means they are not interested in studying here. And if they are not here for studies then why do they need to stay here? That's when suspicion arises and we report such cases. Then their visas undergo scrutiny and their activities are monitored too," said an official.
'Leave India'
Once a student is found to be a repeat failure, his records are checked to see if he has broken any visa rules or has indulged in any sort of criminal activities. In such cases, the student is served a 'leave India' notice.
In the past year, about 40 foreign nationals were deported.
DCP Makarand Ranade (special branch that looks after foreign registration) confirmed that students with poor academic records are under the police radar.
"We have observed a few cases where after flunking in a particular course students change their course and fail again and the cycle goes on. Even after five years if they are unable to get their degree, we begin to suspect them as they don't seem to be here for education purposes," he said.
Ranade said that a vigilance squad comprising 11 policemen has been formed to collect information from all colleges and institutes where foreign nationals study.
Ranade said that all other visas are also scanned now.
"If a person comes on a medical visa, then we check if he is really undergoing treatment or not," said Ranade.
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