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Haryana to enact law to regulate immigration agents: Home minister Anil Vij
Haryana Registration and Regulation of the Travel Agencies Bill — will help control travel agents who fraudulently promise to send people abroad
Haryana home minister Anil Vij Thursday said the state government will bring a bill in the winter session of the state assembly to regulate immigration agents and agencies.
Speaking to reporters, Vij said the proposed law — Haryana Registration and Regulation of the Travel Agencies Bill — will help control travel agents who fraudulently promise to send people abroad. The minister said a helpline number: 80530-03400 has also been set up for the assistance of individuals affected by immigration fraud.
The home minister said the special investigating team (SIT) constituted to deal with immigration frauds has registered 1,008 cases and arrested 662 persons. He informed that the SIT has recovered a total of ₹4.75 crore.
Vij added that 182 cases were registered in Ambala, leading to the arrest of 196 individuals. In Yamunanagar and Kurukshetra, 63 and 153 cases were registered while 33 and 80 individuals were arrested respectively. A total of 29 cases were also reported from Panipat, 78 from Kaithal, 48 from Karnal, 11 from Panchkula, four from Rohtak, three from Sonipat, two from Nuh and one each from Bhiwani, Dadri, Narnaul, Faridabad and Gurugram.
Vij said an SIT was first formed under former IPS officer Bharti Arora on June 2, 2020, which had registered 486 cases and arrested 593 persons between June, 2020, to November 30, 2021, recovering ₹1.81 crore. Another SIT was constituted under inspector general of police, Ambala Range, Sibash Kabiraj on April 17, 2023. Two IPS officers of superintendent of police (SP) rank Jashndeep Singh Randhawa and Abhishek Jorwal were its members.
The home minister said as of April 17, 2023, the new SIT under Sibash Kabiraj had 383 pending cases related to immigration fraud for investigation. On April 20, a nodal officer for the ongoing investigation of each case was appointed in every district for monitoring and oversight. Since the formation of the SIT, two persons on an average have been arrested everyday. Vij said that from the pending 383 cases and the newly registered 625 cases, a total of 356 accused have been arrested.
