Gujarat ATS Busts Bogus Visa Racket; 4 Held

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) today busted a major visa fraud racket involving the issuance of fake Luxembourg visas using forged documents and certificates. Following a targeted surveillance operation, the law enforcement agency arrested four key accused involved in the scam.

The arrested individuals include Mayank Bhardwaj (resident of Seemraj Status, Kudasan, Gandhinagar), Tejendra alias Kishan Gajjar (resident of Gauripuja Society, Nava Vadaj, Ahmedabad), Manish alias Kumar Hargovanbhai Patel, and Tabrej Ghulam Rasul Kashmiri, a Mumbai-based associate.

Acting on a tip-off received by Inspector P.B. Desai regarding the accused allegedly preparing bogus visas for Luxembourg and other countries, a probe was launched. Mayank and Tejendra were summoned to the ATS office for interrogation, during which it was revealed that they had taken large sums of money from individuals in exchange for fake visas.

The accused allegedly admitted to receiving ₹9.5 lakh from Himanshu Rameshchandra Bhavsar, ₹12 lakh from Archit Sanjaybhai Patel, ₹8 lakh each from Nilesh Virabhai Patel and Sanjaykumar Jayantibhai Parmar, and similar payments from Krunal Vijendersingh Sokriwal.

The visa-related work was coordinated by Manish alias Kumar Hargovanbhai Patel through Tabrej Kashmiri, who is based in Mumbai. However, verification with the Embassy of Luxembourg in New Delhi confirmed that none of the visas were genuine. The embassy also clarified that the aforementioned individuals had previously applied for short-term (business) visas using false job offer documents, and their applications were rejected.

Further investigation of the accused’s mobile devices revealed evidence suggesting that fake visas had also been issued to 39 other individuals.

Based on these findings, the ATS has registered a case under IPC Sections 318(3), 336(2), 336(3), 337, 338, 61, and 54. All four accused have been arrested, and further investigation is underway to identify and apprehend others connected to the racket. DeshGujarat