3 arrested with fake Canadian passports

Kolkata: Three Indian nationals from Punjab were arrested by the police on arrival at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata on Thursday evening.

The trio with fake Canadian visas were caught in Bangkok while they were trying to board a flight to Vancouver in Canada. They were caught during the immigration check. The three men — Roop Singh (39), Mohit Salaria (18) and Rahul Kumar (22) were caught when they were trying to board a Vancouver-bound flight.

According to police sources, the three had gone to Malaysia on a trip where they had allegedly came in contact with three travel agents of Indian origin. They asked them for Canadian visas for which the agents had wanted a hefty sum. The deal was finalized for a lower amount and Canadian visas were allegedly affixed on the passports of these men by the travel agents after they paid an amount of Rs 25 lakh.

According to police, the trio hails from Pathankot district in Punjab. "The trio was sent to Bangkok illegally by road from where they were told they could go to Canada. However, during the immigration check, the visas were found to be fake. The men then admitted that they had acquired the visas by paying money to some men in Malaysia," a police officer said.

The NSCBI police station has initiated an FIR against the three men involved in the forgery and they were booked under Section 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and Section 120 B (Criminal Conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.