Guj ATS nabs man for sending people abroad on fake passports, visas

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has arrested a 45-year-old man from Surat city for allegedly sending several persons abroad on bogus passports and visas, an official said on Tuesday.

Based on a tip-off, a team from the Gujarat ATS raided a house in the Varachha area of Surat on Monday and apprehended Adam Mohammad Irfan with several fake passports that had visa stamps of Canada, Turkey, US, Peru, among other countries, the official said.

Apart from making fake passports and visas, Irfan also admitted to having helped people acquire passports using fake identities and documents provided by him, he said, adding that these passports were issued from passport offices in Maharashtra, Delhi and other states.

In one of the WhatsApp chats intercepted by the ATS, Irfan had allegedly claimed that his connections at airports help him send people abroad on bogus documents, it was stated. The accused had even claimed to have sent Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals to the UK, Canada, South Africa and European countries via Pakistan on bogus passports and visas, the official said.

Recently, the accused was planning to send two girls from India to Dubai via Bangladesh using bogus passports and visas, and he was also allegedly involved in making fake investment certificates required to get visas of some countries, he said.

At least seven FIRs of visa-related cheating are already registered against the accused in Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Kolkata and Mumbai and he had been arrested in six of these cases in the past, the official said, adding that he has now been booked on similar charges.