'AAP UK workers embroiled in student visa scam'

LONDON: Two persons said to be members of the UK arm of the Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) are embroiled in a student visa scam in Britain uncovered by the BBC.

An undercover operation by the BBC programme Panorama showed purported AAP worker Varinder Bajarh, also director of Studentway Education, telling a student how she can get a compulsory English language certificate required for her visa without actually giving the exam.

Another purported AAP UK member Hemant Kumar, referred to as a former director of Studentway, was shown handing over a fake academic qualifications in a seal envelope to a student who worked with the producers of the programme.

However, the UK arm of AAP said it was not aware of these two persons being members of the party.

"The photo will be yours," Bajarh was seen telling the student in the Panorama programme which aired yesterday. The student was then sent to Eden College International in London for a fake exam.

While Bajarh told the BBC programme that his agency is "a respected organisation" and said the men filmed were never employees but may have used the office without his knowledge, the UK arm of AAP seems to have been caught unawares.

"I am not aware of them as AAP UK members but I will have to look into this," said Vikas Wahi of the party's British chapter.

The Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP) claimed that Bajarh and Kumar are members of AAP in the UK and produced what it said were images from the party's website, aamaadmiparty-uk.org, as proof.

An OFBJP spokesperson condemned the "corrupt practices" and asked AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan to "practice what they preach".

However, a screen grab from the AAP website which shows Bajarh as a key team member of the UK chapter of AAP is now conspicuously missing.

The UK government suspended crucial English language tests after the undercover investigation revealed widespread cheating and fraud within the UK student visa system.