Visa scam racket busted in Delhi, 3 arrested

New Delhi, Oct 26 (IANS) With the arrest of three men, the Delhi Police Crime Branch on Thursday claimed to have busted a gang involved in duping thousands of people across the country on pretext of offering visas to Canada and Gulf countries.

The accused were identified as Tarun Kumar (43), Vinayak alias Binni (29), and Jaswinder Singh (25), all residents of Punjab.

The Special Commissioner of Police (Crime), Ravinder Singh Yadav, revealed that they received information about multiple people being defrauded by a company known as "Birla-G," based in Chandigarh, Punjab.

This company promised to provide Canadian Visas but eventually supplied counterfeit visas to the victims.

"Investigative efforts led to the identification of the culprits, Tarun and Karan, who were operating under the guise of another business named 'Chandigarh to Abroad' at Sector-34A, Chandigarh. They were involved in deceiving numerous innocent citizens," said the Special CP.

Throughout the investigation, the team compiled a comprehensive set of evidence, including Call Detail Records (CDR), Customer Application Forms (CAF), Internet Protocol Detail Records (IPDR), recharge histories, bank statements, IP logs, online wallets, and GST-related data.

"Through the use of Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT), email addresses linked to mobile numbers used by the fraudsters were identified," said the officer.

A raid was conducted at the Chandigarh to Abroad office, where Tarun was apprehended. "The search of the office yielded various fake and forged documents, laptops, passports containing counterfeit visas, a barcode maker, laminator machines, rolls, and stationery used for creating forged documents, as well as stamps from multiple firms and international banks," said Yadav.

It was discovered that Tarun had been operating the office under the identity of one of his employees, Jaswinder Singh. "Tarun admitted to procuring forged visas from a person named Vinayak, who was running an office under the name 'Shri Sai Education' at Sector 34 Chandigarh, Punjab. Consequently, Tarun, Jaswinder, and Vinayak were arrested," said Yadav.

During interrogations, it became evident that Tarun was the mastermind behind this fraudulent operation.

"Despite having only completed 12th grade, he hired graduate employees to facilitate the acquisition of a Manpower licence from the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, using the names of these hired employees," said the officer.

This tactic was designed to deceive law enforcement agencies. "Tarun reached out to potential clients through social media advertisements and subsequent phone calls in various states, offering consultation and visa arrangement services," said the officer.

He charged victims amounts ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs two lakhs in advance, depending on the destination country.

"The fees were ostensibly for various stages of visa approval, such as application fees, medical fees, and job offer letter fees, followed by the presentation of counterfeit visas via WhatsApp photographs. In this manner, clients were defrauded of approximately Rs 15 to 20 lakhs in total," said the officer.

Tarun Kumar employed over 20 staff members in various roles, including telecallers, account managers, and liaisons to entice customers.

"To date, he has victimised more than a thousand individuals from different states across the country," the officer added.