Delhi Police has arrested a Gujarat-based travel agent for orchestrating a passport fraud in which a passenger tried to obtain immigration benefits under a false identity, officials said on Friday.
Police arrested Nagajan Lilabhai Karavadra (47) after a probe into the activities of a passenger attempting to fly to London using forged credentials revealed the former's involvement in the fraudulent nexus, the officials said.
The incident came to light on March 3 when immigration officials at the IGI Airport flagged a passenger during a routine document check. The passenger, aged 23, was found carrying a passport issued in the name of 'Maulik Ranmalbhai Odedra', police said.
"During questioning, the passenger revealed his true identity as Mahesh Ranmalbhai Odedara, a resident of Porbandar in Gujarat, who assumed a fake identity to obtain immigration clearance with the help of Karavadra for a sum of ₹10 lakh," a senior police officer said.
Karavadra allegedly facilitated the entire process by arranging a sham marriage of 'Maulik Odedra' with a Bulgarian woman to exploit the EU family settlement scheme.
{{/usCountry}}Karavadra allegedly facilitated the entire process by arranging a sham marriage of 'Maulik Odedra' with a Bulgarian woman to exploit the EU family settlement scheme.
{{/usCountry}}Fake documents, including voter ID, birth certificate and residence proof were provided to support the new identity, the officer said.
"After conducting multiple raids, police arrested Karavadra from Gandhinagar. During interrogation, Karavadra confessed to his involvement in the racket. He started working as an agent in 2023 after returning from the UK, where he came in touch with people engaged in similar fraudulent practices," the officer said.
Mahesh Odedra disclosed that he used the forged documents to make several international trips and had returned to India twice using the same identity -- in November 2022 and again in February 2025.