The arrest of 129 Indian students in the US for enrolling in a fake university has sparked questions about how they ended up risking their future to study at a little-known institution. BBC Telugu’s Deepthi Bathini reports.

Veeresh (name changed at his request) was at home in California on 30 January when he heard the news – 130 students (the group included one Chinese national) enrolled at the University of Farmington had been arrested. The university had turned out to be a sham run by undercover agents investigating immigration fraud.

He panicked, he says, because he was one of the 600 students who had enrolled at the Michigan-based university.

“I did not know what to believe. I thought it was a rumour but the whole story was out the next day.”

He left as soon as he could. He returned to India on 4 February.

Apart from the students, eight alleged recruiters, all Indian citizens, were charged with “conspiracy to commit visa fraud and harbouring aliens for profit,” according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE).

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-47154187