Haryana-based agent arrested in fake Poland visa racket at Delhi Airport

New Delhi, Apr 3 (PTI) Delhi Police has arrested a 36-year-old Haryana-based agent involved in arranging fake Poland visas for people attempting to travel abroad, an official said on Thursday.
     The accused, identified as Gagandeep Singh, was wanted in a visa fraud case registered in 2021. He had been absconding since the arrest of another agent, Kulvinder, in the same case, she said.
     Gagandeep, a resident of Kurukshetra, is a habitual offender with involvement in two other visa fraud cases at the Delhi Airport.
     “On September 6, 2021, two passengers -- Chander Prakash (22) and Sarabjeet (23) -- from Punjab arrived at the Delhi Airport intending to board a flight to Poland. During immigration clearance, the officials detected fake Poland visas affixed to their passports,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (IGI Airport) Usha Ragnani.
     A case under sections 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery), 471 (using forged documents as genuine) of the BNS and Section 12 of the Passports Act was registered at IGI Airport Police Station.
     The two passengers revealed during interrogation that they had paid Rs 3 lakh each to Kulvinder, who had promised to facilitate their journey to Portugal via Poland.
     Kulvinder, along with his associates, arranged for their forged visas and travel tickets, she said.
     The senior police official said that further investigation led to Kulvinder's arrest in September 2021.
     Based on his interrogation, the police identified Gagandeep as one of his key associates. Multiple raids were conducted at Gagandeep’s known locations, but he managed to evade arrest, she added.
     Ragnani further said that the police tracked Gagandeep to Amritsar, Punjab, where he was apprehended.
     Gagandeep confessed to his role in the fraud during sustained interrogation. He admitted that he had been working as an agent for several years and had partnered with Kulvinder to dupe individuals seeking job opportunities abroad, she added.
     In this case, Gagandeep and Kulvinder provided the two passengers with fake Poland visas, facilitating their attempted departure from the IGI Airport, police said.
     Gagandeep revealed that he had received Rs 1 lakh as commission for his role in the operation, they said.

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