Hyderabad: Two from AP held for tampering with Indian passports, Gulf visas

They were running a human trafficking network, say police; the gang used to target poor and uneducated individuals, offering them fake promises of high-paying jobs in Gulf countries

Hyderabad: The RGIA police along with the Shamshabad SOT officials nabbed two persons at Nampally for their alleged involvement in tampering Indian passports and Gulf visas on Thursday. Officials seized fake passports, police clearance certificates and other incriminating documents from their possession.

The arrested persons are Ch Balaji from West Godavari and Shiva Kumar from Annamayya district while the absconding persons were Satyanarayana and Gopal from Andhra Pradesh and Anji from Hyderabad.

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The duo was involved in tampering passports, visas and encouraging ECR passport holders to bypass immigration laws and sending the innocent people to Gulf countries without POE (Protect of Emigrant) certificates, work contract documents.

Police said Balaji and Shiva Kumar, with the help of Satyanarayana and Anji, were running an illegal human trafficking network. They targeted poor and uneducated individuals from Andhra Pradesh and surrounding areas, offering them fake promises of high-paying jobs in Gulf countries.

“With support from sub-agents in Mumbai, they procured fraudulent visas. To avoid detection at Indian immigration counters, they tampered with genuine work visas by stamping them as “CANCELLED” to resemble tourist visas,” said a senior police official.

After collecting the passports, they conducted medical tests and arranged accommodation to job aspirants near Nampally, before transporting them to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport for travel.

“Sub-agents paid Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 per person, out of which, the suspects retained Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000 as commission after expenses,” the official said.

Officials said the suspects used two types of documentation to mislead authorities. In one type, passports contained a “CANCELLED” stamp on a work visa, supported by tourist visas and round-trip tickets to be shown at departure.

In the second type, the “CANCELLED” stamp was removed, and documents included original work VISAs, Police Clearance Certificates (PCC), and boarding passes to be shown at the arrival immigration in Gulf countries.

As per emigration rules, ECNR passport holders could travel for work without POE clearance if they had original work visas and PCCs. ECR passport holders, however, required POE, job contracts, insurance, and original work visas.

“Ignoring these requirements, the suspects sent individuals on tourist visas, destroyed those documents mid-journey, and presented fake work-related documents upon arrival,” police officials said.

The entire operation was coordinated by Anji and Satyanarayana, who are currently absconding and efforts are on to nab them.