E-Paper
Ludhiana: 10 illegal immigration centres raided, operators named in FIR
SSP Darpan Ahluwalia said 10 special police teams were constituted to execute coordinated searches across the establishments located in the city’s prominent education hub
The Khanna Police on Thursday conducted raids at 10 immigration centres in the GTB Market area and registered an FIR against their operators on charges of cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy and violations of the Immigration Act. The action was carried out under Operation Prahaar-2 following intelligence inputs about a well-organised illegal immigration network allegedly facilitating overseas travel through fabricated documents.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Darpan Ahluwalia said 10 special police teams were constituted to execute coordinated searches across the establishments located in the city’s prominent education hub.
Preliminary investigations revealed that all 10 centres were operating without valid authorisation or mandatory licences, the SSP said.
Officials suspect that certain operators were working in collusion with gangsters and individuals facing criminal proceedings, allegedly arranging forged passports, visas and other counterfeit documents to enable them to flee abroad and evade prosecution.
During the raids, officials seized 30 passports, 34 computers, laptops and tablets, 15 ATM cards and 175 cheque books, many of them pre-signed. Several incriminating documents and substantial digital data were also recovered and are being forensically examined to ascertain the scale of suspected financial fraud, money laundering and unlawful transactions.
The proprietors of the raided centres are absconding and special teams have been deployed to apprehend them.
Police sources indicated that bank accounts linked to the operators are also being scrutinised to trace financial trails.
The SSP said several victims who had allegedly been cheated by these operators approached police during the operation. Their statements are being recorded and they have been assured legal assistance. Initial findings further indicate that some of the accused are already facing criminal cases in Khanna, Nawanshahr and New Delhi. “Further investigation is underway to identify additional links in the network,” said the SSP.
