6 held with 62 passports, 28 fake immigration stamps

Six people, including a married couple, were arrested with 62 passports and 28 fake visa stamps, said a police officer here on Sunday.

The accused have been identified as Vicky, Sunny, Mukesh, Saurav, Sunita and her husband Ravinder Singh. They were arrested during raids between March 2 and April 5 from different places in Haryana. They are all residents of Kurukshetra and Karnal districts of Haryana.

"On March 2, a complaint was received at IGI Airport police station about suspected Indian immigration stamp on passports of Sunita and Ravinder. They were seeking departure to Canada on the strength of a Canadian visitor visa by the Air Canada," Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Bhatia said.

"During the scrutiny of their passports, the Indian immigration stamps were found fake," he said.

"During the interrogation, the couple disclosed that they wanted to settle in Canada and approached Shyam for help. He introduced them to a Kurukshetra-based agent Vicky," the DCP said.

"Vicky took Rs 6 lakh from them to arrange Canadian visa and introduced them to another agent Sunny who took the couple to Chandigarh and arranged the visa. Sunny also arranged fake immigration stamps to show the couple as frequent travellers," he said.

The police then arrested Sunny on March 27 who admitted Saurav's involvement in the scam. Saurav possessed the fake immigration stamp, the official said.

"Further interrogation linked the case with Mukesh Goyal who runs a language teaching institute in Kurukshetra district of Haryana," the DCP said.

Fake immigration stamps of various countries, including Malaysia, Australia, Singapore and India were recovered from Goyal, Bhatia said.

"Vicky's part was to convince people about arranging visa and sending them abroad. He would then arrange clients' meeting with Sunny who was in touch with various agents for fake immigration stamps of various countries," the DCP said.

--IANS

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