Fake visa printing unit busted in Delhi, six arrested

Police have arrested six people from Delhi’s Tilak Nagar for allegedly running a fake visa racket, busting an elaborate operation that for five years churned out forgeries of the document issued by several countries, complete with some of the unique features that require special dyes, stickers and stamping.
During a raid of the premises where the visas were made, police recovered 30 fake visas, three Italian permanent residency (PR) cards, and 16 passports (of which 14 were of Nepali citizens), officials said
Usha Rangnani, the deputy commissioner of police (IGI Airport), said they discovered the operation while investigating a fake Sweden-issued Schengen visa presented by a passenger who was attempting to travel to Rome from the Delhi Airport on September 2.
The passenger, Sandeep Singh, who is now under arrest, named one Ashif Ali as the man who arranged for the visa. Ali, 27, allegedly quoted Singh a price of ₹10 lakh after promising a visa for a European country.
Police identified the main accused behind the racket as 51-year-old Manoj Monga, a resident of Tilak Nagar. The others arrested were Balbir Singh, 65, from Nangloi, Shiva Gautam, 42 from Nepal, and Naveen Rana, 25 and Jaswinder Singh, 55, both of whom were from cities in Haryana.
Investigators suspect the racket has been churning out fake visas for five years now. Citing information gleaned during interrogations of the six, the DCP said Jaswinder Singh persuaded Monga five years ago to work together on forging visas.
Monga was an expert at working with digital design tools like Photoshop and Corel Draw and used to create banners and signboards for close to two decades. Singh allegedly provided the necessary equipment and material — embossing dyes, rubber stamps, visa stickers, stationery and various office electronics.
A second official aware of the case said such rackets are able to function since the scrutiny of the visas during departure by immigration agents is a visual check to identify the special features, some of which are similar to the ones on currency notes. Visas can only be validated by the countries that issue them. “Often, immigration officials check for fake visas using an ultraviolet machine. There are also liasion officers from each country deployed at the airport who have an expertise to check fake visas,” the officer said.
The officer added that in rare cases, such cases are caught at the destination countries and a deportation process is initiated.
According to Rangnani, Monga provided clients with fake appointment letters in the name of authentic immigration service agencies to give them the impression that their visas are being genuinely procured. The DCP said the traveller who was caught too believed his visa was original.
Monga told investigators he could produce a fake visa sticker within 20-25 minutes on average, a person aware of the case said, asking not to be named. “Thousands of people are suspected to have travelled on these fake visas. The accused are being questioned about details of their customers,” this person said.
DCP said that the accused have been arrested under sections 218-4, 336-3, 340-2 of the BNS and Section 12 of the Passports Act, which deals with forgery.
Agencies across the country have been grappling with several kinds of immigration rackets. The lid on one major such operation was blown late last year when a plane full of Indians travelling on fake documents was held back in France and turned around.
Forged documents are often a common feature of such operations, which also rely on travel agents and touts who act as the gateway between customers – who are often denied visa on the strict grounds that several nations judge applications.