Police bust widespread visa scam that targeted hundreds
New Delhi: The Delhi Police’s Crime Branch has exposed a widespread visa scam that targeted hundreds of individuals seeking opportunities in Canada and Gulf countries.
The operation resulted in the arrest of three key suspects and the recovery of substantial incriminating evidence, the cops said on Thursday. The accused persons have been identified as Tarun Kumar (43) Vinayak, aka Binni (29) and Jaswinder Singh (25) all residents of Punjab.
This racket, preying on innocent individuals primarily from Punjab and neighbouring states, exploited their aspirations of finding employment abroad.
The masterminds behind the operation were identified as Inamul Haque Ansari, aka Rizwan Ali, Ikram Ali, and Sameer Khan. This followed another recent bust in which the majority of victims were from Kerala and were seeking Gulf/Dubai visas.
Ravindra Singh Yadav Special CP Crime Branch said that the modus operandi of this fraudulent scheme involved enticing potential victims through phone calls, social media advertisements, and email communication. Victims were promised visas and job opportunities in Gulf countries, only to discover later that the offered visas were counterfeit.
The case, registered under sections 406/420/468/471/34 IPC, was initiated after multiple individuals were defrauded by Birla-G, located in Chandigarh, Punjab. The culprits behind this company, Tarun and Karan, operated another fraudulent office under the name “Chandigarh to Abroad” in Chandigarh, Yadav mentioned.
A dedicated investigative team, led by Insp. Manmeet Malik conducted a comprehensive operation that gathered relevant data, such as CDR, CAF, IPDR, recharge history, bank statements, IP logs, online wallets, and GST information. By utilizing open-source intelligence (OSINT), the team identified email addresses linked to the fraudsters’ phone numbers.
Later, a raid on the “Chandigarh to Abroad” office in Chandigarh yielded crucial evidence, including forged documents, laptops, passports containing fake visas, a barcode maker, laminator machines, and other materials used for creating fraudulent documentation, Yadav confirmed.
During questioning, it was revealed that Tarun Kumar, the apparent mastermind, had deceived over a thousand individuals from various states, charging them between Rs 50,000 and Rs 2 lakh each for various stages of visa approval.
He employed more than 20 staff members in different roles, such as telecallers, account managers, and liaisons to entice victims. The accused individuals operated under various firm names to defraud victims, including “Birla-G,” “Fast Visa,” “World Wide Future,” “Mastermind Overseas,” “Sri Sai Education,” “SS Education,” “Viswash International,” “Chandigarh to Abroad,” and “Royal Visa”, the official said.
The recovery from the operation included six passports with counterfeit Canadian visas, stamps and seals, a swipe machine, laptops, printers, folders containing copies of
visas and other documents, laminator machines, barcode printers, and rolls used for creating barcodes and stickers.
