US State Department: Detained students were aware of their crime

Representational Image

All 130 foreign students, including 129 Indians, detained in the US for enrolling in a fake university were aware that they were committing a crime to fraudulently remain in the country, the State Department has said amid claims that they knew nothing about the varsity's illegal operation.

The State Department's response came after India issued a demarche to the American Embassy in New Delhi on Saturday, expressing its concern over the detention of Indian students and sought immediate consular access to them.

The foreign students were arrested last week by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for enrolling at the University of Farmington allegedly to remain in the USA. Eight individuals have been arrested for running the racket. They have pleaded "not guilty" before a federal court in Michigan.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever