28-year-old man with links to fake immigration racket held

Police identified the suspect as Sahil Verma, a resident of Moti Bagh in south Delhi. Verma was arrested from near the Nepal border on April 14, police said

The Indira Gandhi International Airport unit of Delhi Police on Friday said it arrested a 28-year-old man who is allegedly a member of an international fake immigration syndicate that sent people to the US and other countries through the donkey routes. The suspect was arrested in connection with a two-year-old case of cheating, where a resident of Kaithal in Haryana was duped of ₹11 lakh.

The Indira Gandhi International Airport unit of Delhi Police on Friday said it arrested a 28-year-old man who is allegedly a member of an international fake immigration syndicate that sent people to the US and other countries through the donkey routes. (Representational Image)

Police identified the suspect as Sahil Verma, a resident of Moti Bagh in south Delhi. Verma was arrested from near the Nepal border on April 14, police said.

“Verma arranged a fake Schengen visa for Greece. The Kaithal resident, identified as Sanju Tamak, was caught at the Moscow airport and was deported to India in June 2022. Tamak was arrested by the IGI Airport police for travelling abroad on a passport that was tampered with,” said deputy commissioner of police (IGI Airport) Usha Rangnani.

According to the DCP, Verma had been absconding since the arrest of Tamak. “He had fled to Dubai, from where he was primarily carrying out his illegal immigration business. A lookout circular (LOC) was issued against him,” added DCP Rangnani.

Police said that when Tamak arrived in Delhi after his deportation, his documents were examined. Police found that one page of his passport appeared unusual as the residual gum after removing the visa stamp from the page remained. A case was then registered. Tamak was later arrested and he revealed he wanted to go to the US for a “better life”.

“Tamak said he was in touch with an agent, Vinod, who assured him of this for ₹33 lakh. Tamak paid ₹9 lakh as advance. He met Verma in Dubai who arranged the fake Schengen visa. But the passport was not handed over. After some days, when the visa expired and Tamak was not allowed to travel to Greece, he asked Verma to cancel the deal and return his passport along with the money. Tamak grew apprehensive about being caught and removed the fake visa from the passport due to which the gum residue remained,” added Rangnani.

Tamak returned to India in May 2022 and obtained a genuine visa to Russia to improve his travel history as suggested by his friends. He reached Moscow but was deported from there and arrested by the IGI Airport police in June. Further probe led to the arrest of Vinod and his two associates as well.

“The arrested people revealed Verma’s name. This racket has members in Dubai and other countries, who sent clients to the US via donkey routes,” she added.