llegal immigration racket busted in Jalandhar, 2 travel agents held

66 Indian passports and ₹ 23.92 lakh cash have been recovered from the two agents, said the officials of the Jalandhar rural police that busted the immigration racket

Jalandhar rural police on Tuesday busted an illegal immigration racket with the arrest two travel agents from Bhogpur town and recovered 66 Indian passports and ₹ 23.92 lakh cash. Police have also seized two high-end cars, including a Range Rover, from the accused identified as Amandeep Singh of Cholang village and Tota Ram of Bulanpur village in Jalandhar district.

The two accused had been running the immigration racket in Jalandhar for the past five years, say the police. (REUTERS)

Adampur assistant superintendent of police Ajay Gandhi said they information that Amandeep was working as a travel agent without any valid licence. “We received a tip-off that Amandeep was travelling in his Range Rover with passports of people & cash obtained through fraudulent means. Acting on the information, police laid trap and arrested Amandeep. Three Indian passports and ₹ 3.92 lakh were recovered from him.”

During interrogation, Amandeep revealed that Tota Ram was his partner. “We arrested Tota Ram and recovered ₹ 5 lakh from him. During subsequent probe, 63 more Indian passports and ₹15 lakh were recovered,” he added.

The officer said the accused were illegally sending the people to the US through Mexico or Middle-East countries. “We have also recovered passports of Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana residents from them. The duo had been running the business for the past 5 years,” added the ASP.