E-Paper
Immigration fraud: Jalandhar Police to seek Brijesh Mishra’s extradition from Canada
On Saturday, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) had arrested Mishra when he was trying to sneak into the country illegally as the Indian authorities have already issued a lookout circular (LOC) following the registration of an FIR against him in Jalandhar on March 17
A day after wanted Indian travel agent Brijesh Mishra was arrested in Canada, the Jalandhar commissionerate police said it’s going to coordinate with its Canadian counterparts through the ministry of external affairs to bring Mishra back to India for a detailed investigation into the whole immigration nexus.
Mishra, who owned Education and Migration Services, is accused of duping nearly 700 Indian students by giving them fake admission letters from colleges to secure study visas. Mishra belongs to Thalwada in Darbhanga, Bihar and started his immigration consultancy in 2013. In 2014, he was caught committing fraud with students. His clout can be gauged from the fact that he either managed to strike a compromise with the complainant or ensure no action was taken against him. He was booked at Jaito in Faridkot and Malerkotla in 2021 and 2022, respectively, but no action was taken against him.
On Saturday, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) had arrested Mishra when he was trying to sneak into the country illegally as the Indian authorities have already issued a lookout circular (LOC) following the registration of an FIR against him in Jalandhar on March 17.
The CBSA has already slapped five charges, including those for counselling misrepresentation, misrepresentation and unauthorised representation or advice for consideration, under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Jalandhar police commissioner Kuldeep Singh Chahal said they are yet to receive official communication from Canadian authorities on Mishra’s arrest and charges framed against him.
“The authorities managed to track Mishra’s movement as the Jalandhar police swiftly issued LOC against him after registration of FIRs. We will take up his extradition plea and seek his deportation once we receive official communiqué from our counterparts in Canada,” Chahal said.
After the issue came to light, the CBSA issued deportation notices to nearly 700 students over fraudulent offer letters that had been provided to them by Mishra while processing their study visas.
Last week, Canadian immigration minister Sean Fraser had announced to freeze the deportation notices to the students, terming them ‘victims of fraud’ besides forming a committee to look into each case.
Following the scam, Punjab Police registered three first information reports (FIRs) against Mishra and his accomplices Rahul Bhargav and Gurnam Singh on March 17 and 27 in Jalandhar. A total of 10 FIRs are registered in police stations of Jalandhar, Faridkot and Malerkotla districts against Mishra.
Police arrested Bhargav, a resident of Jalandhar, on March 27, while Brijesh was arrested in Canada, Gurnam remains on the run.
The cases were registered under Sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 465 (for making forged documents), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
Mishra even applied for anticipatory bail in FIR number 47 registered against him on March 17 but the Jalandhar’s additional sessions court rejected his bail plea on May 16, citing that there is no merit in the application.
In his bail plea, Mishra contested through his lawyer that he has been falsely implicated in the present case and no offence was committed by him.
“Alleged occurrence had taken place in the year 2018-2019, whereas the present case was registered in the year 2023. Even as per the complaint filed by the complainant, the only allegations against him was that he had prepared the file of the daughter of the complainant for depositing the same for obtaining a visa, and even the file was deposited with the embassy by the daughter of the complainant herself. Nobody would fabricate documents for a meagre amount of ₹65,000 paid to Mishra,” the bail plea stated.
