A man from Punjab has claimed that he has been duped by three Pakistani nationals who provided him with a fake Australian visa in Malaysia, police said today.
This incident came to light when Hoshiarpur resident Baljinder Singh yesterday approached the Australian embassy here to check the veracity of the visa stamp on his passport, a senior police official said.
According to the complaint filed by the Australian High Commission, Singh approached its officials yesterday to check the authenticity of the visa label pasted on his passport.
Singh informed embassy officials that he met Pakistani nationals Malik Ali, Ehsaan Khan and Bilal Pinder during his first visit to Malaysia in January, and they "tried to gauge information about his personal background".
After several meetings, the complaint quoting Singh said that the trio told him that they would arrange maritime visa for him even though he did not meet the requirements set by Australian authorities.
"They (Pakistanis) kept his passport and arranged his Australian visa. However, a forged Australian visa label allegedly issued from Malaysian post was noted on this passport.
"Departmental records indicate that no such visa or application was ever processed for the applicant from India or any overseas post," the High Commission said.
It also said Singh told embassy officials that he had been receiving about 30-40 calls daily from the trio asking for references of prospective individuals aspiring to travel to Australia.
Cops have made enquiries from Singh, the police official said.
A case under Section 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery), 471 (using a forged document as genuine), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC has been registered.
