Chandigarh: The Haryana Police has uncovered a major immigration fraud racket by conducting raids across several states, including Punjab.
Three people, including a woman, have been arrested for duping people of lakhs of rupees on the pretext of sending them abroad.
According to officials, the mastermind of the network, identified as Sahil, was arrested from Jaipur in Rajasthan. Police said Sahil had obtained passports under three different names and operated in Jalandhar, Amritsar and Zirakpur using multiple identities. So far, 21 FIRs have been registered against him — 13 in Yamunanagar (Haryana), six in Jalandhar and two in Ferozepur.
The case came to light following a complaint from a man named Shivcharan, who alleged that he paid ₹14 lakh to an immigration agent named Pradeep to go to Australia. However, after receiving the money, the agent neither arranged the visa nor sent him abroad. Investigations later revealed that the accused had been living in Jalandhar under the name Pradeep, where six cases were already registered against him.
Haryana Police ASI Deepak Kumar said that 874 grams of gold and ₹26.50 lakh in cash were recovered from the possession of the arrested accused.
Police sources said that teams are continuing raids on immigration offices in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala to trace other members of the fraud network. Authorities believe several more people could be involved.
The Haryana Police has urged people to verify the license and registration number of immigration agents before paying them any money to avoid falling victim to such scams.
