Report on youth unsubstantiated

Doubts have been expressed about the authenticity of a claim by a Kerala youth that Nasa, inspired by his patriotism, had relaxed appointment rules for him.

The Telegraph was one of the papers that published a report, headlined “Patriot Nasa boy turns hero”, on October 7 on Page 6. The report mentioned that the youth, 26-year-old Arun P.V., had met the Prime Minister in September.

Since then, reports have emerged that doubted the claim of the youth who has not been able to substantiate his version with documentary proof till now. A reader also wrote to this newspaper, pointing out that the information in the report could not be verified.

Subsequent inquiries have been unable to find evidence that establishes Arun was associated with the US space agency. Kerala police had also conducted independent inquiries and concluded that the claims of Arun appeared to be unfounded.

Under the circumstances and in the absence of documentary proof, The Telegraph is constrained to classify the contents of the report as unverified and unsubstantiated.

This newspaper had published the report after speaking to the youth who requested that he be not quoted. But the information was not verified with either Nasa or the other persons mentioned in the report — a mistake that goes against established journalistic norms.

We apologise to our readers for publishing a report without verifying it with multiple sources and without obtaining confirmation from others mentioned in the report.