Date:19/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/19/stories/2008111953760300.htm

New Delhi

Four held on human trafficking charges

Staff Reporter

The accused had been running the racket in the garb of tour-and-travel business
Over 100 passports, fake visa stickers, forged stamps and seals of various embassies seized

NEW DELHI: Four persons including a woman who allegedly ran a human trafficking racket have been arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi police. Over 100 passports, fake visa stickers, forged stamps and seals of various embassies and immigration offices and other forged papers were allegedly seized from them.

The police received a complaint from Harish Idnani alleging that Vipin Sharma, his wife Honey and their accomplices had cheated him of Rs.16.5 lakh on the pretext of sending four persons abroad. The accused neither returned the money nor the passports of the victims. The Special Cell found that the Sharma couple was also wanted by the Haryana and Punjab police. Acting on a tip-off that on November 11 Vipin would come to Shahpur Jat, the police arrested him along with his accomplice Umesh Gambhir from their tour-and-travel office. According to the police, passports and fake visa stickers were seized from the duo.

The police raided Vipin’s house in Defence Colony and found it sealed from outside. However, when they broke open the seal and entered the house, they found the entire family living there. In all, 35 passports, fake visa stickers and 300 Canadian dollars were seized from the house. Vipin’s wife was also arrested.

On November 13, the police arrested another gang member Bhupender Singh who allegedly forged visas. A computer, two scanners, two printers, stamps and seals were seized from there. The raiding team also seized 45 passports, 15 torn passports and 108 visa tickets from his workshop.

Investigations revealed that the accused had been running the racket in the garb of tour-and-travel business. They would get advertisements published in newspapers and on the pretext of helping people obtain visas extort Rs.4,000 to Rs.20,000 per head. They would then supply forged visas to the victims and take up to Rs.3 lakh on the pretext of sending them abroad. After collecting money from several persons, they would vanish from the scene. The police found that some persons sold their passports bearing multiple visas to the accused and lodged false missing complaints with the police.

The police said 33-year-old Vipin worked as an instructor in the Karnal Flying Club, but was suspended on charges of negligence and his licence withdrawn in 1999. Subsequently, he allegedly started running a human trafficking racket to make easy money.