Delhi Police have arrested six visa agents and unearthed a factory producing forged visas in the Tilak Nagar area.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, IGI Airport, Usha Rangrani said on Sunday that six people have been arrested so far. The raid led to the recovery of 16 Nepali passports, two Indian passports, 30 visa stickers, and 23 visa stamps. Besides, a significant amount of equipment used in making forged visas, including dye machines, printers, laminating sheets, laptops, and UV machines was also recovered.
According to the police, on September 2, a man from Haryana named Sandeep was caught attempting to fly to Italy on a fake Swedish visa during an immigration check at Delhi airport. Upon questioning, he revealed that several people from his village had visited abroad using similar counterfeit visas.
Sandeep revealed that he obtained the fake visa from an agent named Asif Ali for Rs 10 lakh. Following this information, the police raided and arrested Asif Ali and his associates Shiva Gautam and Naveen Rana.
During the investigation, the arrested individuals revealed the names of two more agents linked to the gang — Balbir Singh and Jaswinder Singh, who were also arrested.
They later disclosed that fake visas for several countries were made in a factory in Delhi’s Tilak Nagar area which was operated by a man named Manoj Monga.
Subsequently, the police raided a factory in West Delhi’s Tilak Nagar and arrested Manoj Monga. Manoj revealed that he has a diploma in graphic design. Around five years ago, he met a man, who encouraged him to use his graphic designing skills to make counterfeit visas. He also provided him with the necessary equipment.
According to the police, they were making some 30-60 fake visas every month and could prepare a visa sticker in just 20 minutes. Every fake visa was sold for Rs 8-10 lakh. The racket used Telegram, Signal, and WhatsApp for communication and had a web of local agents across several regions that would connect with people seeking jobs abroad.