Delhi Police's Crime Branch has arrested seven people for allegedly cheating young job aspirants, mostly from Nepal, on the pretext of providing them good job in Canada by forging passports and visas, officials said on Wednesday.
The agents involved in the racket have been identified as Jitender Kumar Mandal, a resident of Dhangarhi in Nepal; Pradeep Kumar Kattamuri, a resident of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh; and Vipin Sharma, a resident of Paharganj, they said.
The mastermind behind the syndicate has been identified as Majeet and his associate has been identified as Vijay Kumar, both residents of Vaishali in Uttar Pradesh, the police said.
Two middlemen, identified as Gagan Singh and Asha Rani, and the printing press owner, identified as Jitender Kumar, were also arrested, a senior police official said.
A complete lab used for printing and preparing fake visa stickers and fake Indian passport in the city was also raided, the officials said.
The matter came to light after police received a complaint that three Nepalese nationals were duped to the tune of Rs 14-15 lakh by Jitendra, Bijay, Biren and Binod on the pretext of providing them good job in Canada, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajesh Deo said.
During investigation, it was learnt that these forged visa stickers were provided to them by accused Gagan Singh. Accordingly, Singh was arrested. His arrest helped police in tracing the other accused involved in the case, the officer said.
The gang usually targeted young job aspirants from Nepal who wanted to get jobs in foreign countries. They allured them initially at Nepal by giving them false assurance of providing them good job in Canada, the officer added.
Thereafter, they took an initial amount from them at Nepal itself and then they used to call them to Delhi and take their passports for allegedly depositing them in the Embassy of Canada for the purpose of applying for the Visa, the DCP said.
However, instead they would affix forged visa stickers on their passports and send them (victims) pictures of visa stickers on their mobile phones through Whatsapp. The gang use to give fake visa and then disappear, the police said.
A large number of documents, including passports, various countries' arrival and departure stamps and forged holograms, were seized from the possession of the accused, they added.
ALSO READ: Ayushman Bharat: Govt to 'name and shame' hospitals indulging in fraudulent practices
ALSO READ: Man held for duping CAG official of Rs 2 lakh by fraudulent banking