Forged papers, long route: Rush of FIRs reveal tip of immigration racket iceberg

CASES FILED IN GUJARAT - AFTER NICARAGUA FLIGHT INCIDENT

- Leena Dhankhar

When Indravadan Patel first heard of a plane full of Indians being detained at an airport in France over human trafficking fears, he called a travel agency he had been in touch with to take his son to the US. The travel agents had charted a similar plan for his son’s entry into the country — Dubai first, then a brief stop in Europe, before the US — and they had taken ₹25 lakh as advance. Now, the phone went unanswered, and the Ahmedabad office Patel had visited was shut.

Patel is one of hundreds of people who transacted with a syndicate that helped Indians enter US and Canada illegally and on forged documentation, Gujarat police officers told HT, confirming at least 17 FIRs had been filed across the state since the December 22 grounding of an Airbus A340 in Vatry, France blew the lid off such operations.

The ring charged each person between ₹70 lakh and ₹80 lakh, investigators said, sharing the first details of what is yet another “donkey route” immigration racket.

Two people, who were among a web of at least 50 travel agents and touts based in India, were arrested by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the state police.

“The two men arrested on Wednesday were part of a vast operation involving people across multiple cities, towns and villages,” a CID official said on condition of anonymity, identifying the suspects as Kunal Vriya and Sahil. “They used to forge bank statements and other documents to help people secure visas and obtain passports,” this person added.