TN-based fake French visa racket busted at IGI Airport key agent held

New Delhi, Dec 2 (PTI) The Delhi Police has busted a Tamil Nadu–based racket allegedly involved in arranging counterfeit French visas for Indian job seekers, an official said on Tuesday.
     Police have arrested a key agent and detained three passengers at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, he said.
     The incident came to light on October 28 when three passengers, namely Naveeraj Subramaniyam (23), Prabhakaran Senthilkumar (28) and Mohan Gandhi Elangovan (38), reported for immigration clearance at Terminal 3 of the airport for a flight to Paris.
     During scrutiny, the French D-type visas on their passports were found to be fake and missing essential security features.
     "A case under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Passport Act was registered at IGI Airport police station. During questioning, it emerged that Naveeraj's fake visa had been arranged by his brother for Rs 6 lakh, while the other two had paid Rs 12 lakh each to an agent based in Namakkal district," said the police officer.
     A team traced the agent, V Kannan (55), a resident of Namakkal, and arrested him from Tamil Nadu following technical surveillance and local inputs.
     "Kannan, who runs a government-affiliated ITI in Paramathi and an overseas consultancy named Vetri Overseas in Velur, confessed to arranging fake visas for job aspirants in collaboration with another agent, identified as Sathik Syed alias Abdul Hakim of Madurai," Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI) Vichitra Veer said in a statement.
     The officer further said that he allegedly lured at least 16 aspirants by promising warehouse jobs in Paris and charged them after interviews, receiving payments through both bank transfers and cash. Efforts are underway to trace his associate and identify others linked to the racket.
     According to the DCP, the IGI Airport police have arrested or booked 26 people, including six fraudulent agents, in November in cases involving forged passports and visas. Another 28 touts were also nabbed for illegal activities at the airport during the same period.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)