CBI searches 6 locations in Delhi, Punjab and J-K in Visa fraud case

The CBI searched six locations in Delhi, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir after registering an FIR against several people, including two former workers in the French Embassy

The CBI on Friday searched six locations in Delhi, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir after registering an FIR against several people, including two former workers in the French Embassy here, for alleged visa fraud, officials said.

The agency has alleged that Shubham Shokeen and Aarti Mandal, both former workers at the embassy's visa department, committed the fraud in conspiracy with others between January and May.

"It was further alleged that in pursuance to the said criminal conspiracy, applicants from Punjab and Jammu submitted fake and forged letters purportedly written by a private company based at Bengaluru to the Consulate General of France, Bengaluru, for issuing entry visas for their joining private companies in Port-Le-Havre, France," a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) spokesperson said in a statement.

The agency has alleged that Shokeen and Mandal issued the visas to three other accused persons by taking Rs 50,000 as bribe for each visa without the knowledge and approval of the head of the visa department at the Embassy of France here.

The duo allegedly destroyed documents and files from the visa department to leave no traces of this illicit activity, the officials said.

"During five months, several files were allegedly handled by these accused which mostly pertain to individuals that is young farmers or unemployed people from Punjab who had not earlier travelled. It was further alleged that during the said period, the accused had perpetrated the fraud of huge amount in the visa department of the embassy," the spokesperson said.

The officials said others booked in the FIR, include Navjot Singh, Chetan Sharma, Satwinder Singh Purewal and Manpreet Singh.

"Searches are being conducted today at six locations including Delhi, Patiala, Gurdaspur and Jammu, at the premises of the accused. Incriminating documents/articles, including laptops, mobile phones, suspicious passports etc. have so far been recovered," the spokesperson said.