Fake immigration stamp racket busted, 6 arrested

New Delhi: Six persons, including an IELTS coach, were arrested in connection with issuance of fake immigration stamps, police said on Sunday. It seized 62 passports and 28 fake stamps from the accused.

The accused were identified as Saurav, an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) coach; Vicky, a businessman dealing in herbal products; and two agents Sachin Kumar and Mukesh Goyal. A couple, Ravinder Singh and his wife Sunita Kumari, who wanted to travel to Canada, were also arrested for getting the forged immigration stamps from the agents, police said.

“On the intervening night of March 1 and 2, a complaint was received about suspected fake and forged Indian immigration stamps in respect of two Indian nationals, namely Sunita Kumari and Ravinder Singh, who were seeking departure to Canada on the strength of Canadian visit visa by Air Canada,” said DCP (IGI Airport) Sanjay Bhatia.

During scrutiny of their travel documents, it was found that there was no travel history of the couple in the immigration passenger log and the Indian immigration stamps affixed on their passports were fake and forged, he said.

During investigations, it was revealed that the couple wanted to go and settle down in Canada. They approached their friend Shyam who introduced them to an agent named Vicky, who runs a shop in Kurukshetra in Haryana.

Vicky took Rs 6 lakh from them on the pretext of arranging Canadian visas. He arranged for another agent, Sachin Kumar, who took the couple to Chandigarh and arranged for their visa. The agent arranged fake immigration stamps for them.

During questioning, Vicky disclosed that it was Kumar who had procured the fake immigration stamps and placed the same on the passports. Kumar was arrested in this regard on March 27.

Kumar disclosed that he gave the two passports to one Saurav, who got the forged immigration stamps affixed to make the couple look frequent travellers. Saurav, who runs an office in Kurukshetra, was also arrested in this regard on March 29, the DCP further said. Subsequently, Goyal was arrested and he revealed that till date he has prepared 20-25 fake immigration and bank stamps for Saurav and his associates.