Police arrested 1,018 people in illegal immigration-related cases over 18 months in Haryana. A helpline number – 8053003400 – has been launched, and an officer of the DSP rank has been designated as the nodal officer in each district in view of the gravity of immigration fraud cases.
Chandigarh/ Ambala: This year’s one of the biggest cases of fraud in the name of sending people abroad has come to light here. Since the amount of fraud is in crores, a case of fraud has been registered in the Economic Offenses Wing. In this case, the woman running the immigration company along with others has defrauded the complainant party of Rs 2.75 crore. The police have registered a case and started investigating the matter. In a complaint given to the police, Seva Ram of Bajwa Colony located in Ward No. 1 of Banur (Mohali) said that Paramjit Kaur, a resident of Sector-35A and Vivek Shekhawat together deceived him by promising to send him abroad. Both of them extorted about 2.75 crores from him in installments.
According to the complainant, later when the work was not done, they refused to refund the money, even though they stopped receiving his calls and when he went to their office, they were never found. After this, a complaint was lodged with the police, and the Economic Offences Wing has started investigation by registering a case against the accused woman Paramjeet Kaur and Vivek Shekhawat under IPC Act 420, 406, 120B and Immigration Act-24. Before registering the case, the accused were also called to join the investigation on the basis of the complaint by the investigation team, but they did not join.
Arresting six people, including two women, the cyber cell of Chandigarh Police has exposed large-scale immigration frauds of lakhs of rupees. The scam came to light following a complaint by a Rajasthan resident who fell prey to the fraudulent visa consultancy. Ganeshmal, the victim, came across an advertisement from “Global Consultant,” a visa consultancy based in Chandigarh, on Facebook. The ad promised to secure work visas for Azerbaijan. He was asked to pay Rs 1.35 lakh per person, with half the amount upfront and the rest after receiving the visa.
A similar case of immigration s has also been exposed about few months ago in Ambala City in which police arrested Rachneet Kaur Jaggi, a female partner of Vishwas Group Company, alleged involved in different cases of fraud of crores of rupees in the name of sending people abroad, on a production warrant. The woman was lodged in Central Jail for about two months in nearly 40 cases registered in Ambala City. According to the complainants, the accused Rachneet Kaur Jaggi and Vishwas Group Company Chairman Purushottam Bhatti had committed frauds to send youths abroad for studies or on work visas Gradually, they took all the money but did not send them abroad, rather they threatened them when they asked for the refund of money. Information reveals that the cases are registered against the immigration firm in different police stations in the town of frauds of lakhs of rupees, mostly registered in Baldev Nagar police station Ambala City. Information also reveals that Vishwas Group Company Chairman Purushottam Bhatti has already left the country along with his family, whereas Rachneet Kaur lodged in Ambala Central jail and there are also cases registered against few employees working in the firm.
Meanwhile, Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Kapur has warned people should beware of such fraudulent unregistered travel agents mushrooming in the state and should not trust any travel agent without investigation. According to available data, the Haryana Police arrested 1,018 people in illegal immigration-related cases over 18 months till October 31 this year. The arrests were carried out after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed in April 2023. Information also reveals that a total of 2,606 cases related to fake travel agents and illegal immigration have been registered in Haryana during the past six years. In 2019, 213 cases were registered, followed by 582 in 2020, 183 in 2021, 300 in 2022, 750 in 2023, and 578 by the end of October this year. Karnal district has recorded the highest number of cases with 658 in the past six years. During this period, Kurukshetra saw 574 cases, Ambala 457, Kaithal 256, Yamunanagar 217, and Panipat 106 cases.
A helpline number – 8053003400 – has been launched, and an officer of the DSP rank has been designated as the nodal officer in each district in view of the gravity of these cases. Simultaneously, senior police officers including superintendents of police in Haryana state have been issued directives to tighten the noose on travel agents. They have been instructed to monitor the number of complaints received, FIRs registered, criminals apprehended, and the amount of recovery from criminals. There is also a provision to attach the house, shop, and other property of travel agents who engage in illegal immigration activities.
Unregistered, cheat travel agents entice unemployed individuals with promises of jobs and send them abroad on education visas and work visas. Often, after the individual pays the money and applies for a visa, they are informed that their visa has been rejected. The travel agent then suggests the ‘donkey route’. During this process, most individuals are apprehended at the border, imprisoned, and deported back to India. In some cases, victims are illegally held captive, and their families are pressured to pay more money. Additionally, travel agents may provide fake tickets and fake visas, leading to the individual being denied air travel. Sometimes, individuals are misled by fake job offers and documents presented through emails, etc. Moreover, agents may send individuals to countries like Russia and Ukraine by claiming that they will obtain a visa for another country.
