Three Indians with Fake Canadian Visas Arrested in Kolkata After Deportation from Bangkok

Three Indian nationals from Punjab were caught with fake Canadian visas in Bangkok, where they were trying to board a flight to Vancouver in Canada. After they were caught during immigration check, they were deported to India on Sept.13 and were arrested by the police on arrival at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata. 

The three men, named Roop Singh (39), Mohit Salaria (18) and Rahul Kumar (22), were caught when they were trying to board a Vancouver-bound flight, according to the Times of India.  

These accused had gone to Malaysia on a trip where they allegedly came into the contact of three travel agents of Indian origin, the report added. They asked them for Canadian visas, for which the agents quoted a sum of Rs 15 lakh per person. The deal was finalized for a lower amount and Canadian visas were allegedly affixed on the passports of these men by the travel agents. 

“The trio was sent to Bangkok illegally by road where from they were told they could board a flight to Canada. However during the immigration check, the visas were found to be fake. The men then admitted they acquired the visas by paying some men in Malaysia,” a senior official at Kolkata airport was quoted as saying by the publication.  

“They were then deported from Bangkok,” the official added. 

An FIR was registered against the three men involved in the forgery and they were booked under Section 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of the Indian Penal Code. 

Canada is one of the most sought-after countries among Indians looking to move abroad. One in five people in Canada is an immigrant, according to census figures of 2016 released by Canada’s statistics agency last year. Almost 60 percent of new immigrants come from Asia, with Philippines leading the count at 15 percent, followed by India at 12.1 percent, and China at 10.6 percent, the figures showed.

Several Indians have been arrested in the destination countries after paying huge amounts of money to illegal agents for helping them migrate with fake documents, or without proper papers. About 25 travel agents were booked recently in Kapurthala by the Punjab Police during investigations into illegal entry of several youth from the state into the United States. So far this fiscal year, over 3,400 Indians have been caught by U.S. border security agents at the El Centro town of California, Fox News had reported earlier.