The Hindu : New Delhi News : Visa racket busted

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 18, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Visa racket busted

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, AUG. 17. Three persons have been arrested by the North Delhi police for allegedly running a fake visa racket. According to the police, the accused have links with operators in Mumbai and also Bangkok.

According to the police, the Operation Cell of the North Delhi police had got a tip-off about two persons providing forged visas and planning to send some persons to Canada on that basis. A trap was laid at Subzi Mandi railway station where the accused were supposed to deliver the forged visa on August 14. The accused, identified as Samir Kishore Bhai Desai (41), Bimal Bharat Bhai Patel (35) and Sukhdev Singh (19), were arrested when they appeared on the scene. Two forged visas for Canada were recovered from them.

Interrogation revealed that Samir and Bimal, both residents of Navsari district in Gujarat, had connection with Sukki Akodia, an agent operating from Bangkok and Mumbai. The police said Sukhdev, a resident of Hoshiyarpur in Punjab, had paid up Rs. 1 lakh to Sukki and Rs. 1.5 lakhs to Samir and Bimal.

Sukki, the police said, used to arrange forged visas and supply it to the agents spread over several States. In Delhi, one Surender alias Fauji had been working as Sukki's agent. He used to visit Punjab frequently and collect the passports of those intending to go to Canada. Samir and Bimal then received the forged visa in Mumbai and deliver the same to Surender in Delhi. They even arranged for boarding and tickets of their clients. In all, they used to charge anywhere between Rs. 2 to 6 lakhs.

Meanwhile, a case has been registered at the Gulabi Bagh police station and further investigations are on. More arrests are likely.

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