Five including national-level boxer arrested as police bust interstate gang involved in visa fraud

The Anti-Immigration Fraud Unit cracked the case after a representative of WestEd Visa Solutions, based in Sector 14, Panchkula, filed a detailed complaint at the DCP office, alleging massive fraud by the accused.

According to the police, the racket was being run by Gurcharan Singh, who posed as a licensed work visa consultant and assured successful work permits. The complainant, Taranpreet Kaur, handed over Rs 48,25,600 along with the passports and documents of eight youths to him. The accused later provided fake flight dates in March and April, but no travel materialised, police said.

Under pressure from clients and other agents, Taranpreet eventually refunded Rs 8 lakh to two youths from her own pocket, even though the money had already been paid to Gurcharan. When she attempted to recover the funds from him, he fled.

Following the complaint, an FIR was registered on July 22, and the Anti-Immigration Fraud Unit launched an investigation.

Acting on cyber-technical leads, police first arrested mastermind Gurcharan from Nawanshahr, Punjab, on November 13. Subsequent raids led to the arrest of Shahbaz alias Prajapati alias Gaurang — who is a national-level boxer from Maharashtra — along with Aniket alias Rishi alias Kartik and Anshu Kumar, both from Munger, Bihar, who were caught from Delhi’s Paharganj area. The fifth accused, Ajay Sethi of Sonipat, operating under the fake identity of Pankaj Sharma, was arrested from Samalkha, Panipat on November 30. All four recently arrested accused remain in police remand till December 5, police said.

Police said that the investigation revealed that the gang allegedly used multiple fake identities and had detained several youths for nearly a month in a Mumbai hotel while promising overseas work placements while the accused had even opened a new office in Jaipur days before their arrest, in an attempt to expand their operations across Rajasthan.

Their criminal backgrounds also surfaced during the probe, with Gurcharan already facing six cases in Punjab, while Ajay Sethi has four cases in Delhi and Sonipat. Cases are also registered against Shahbaz and Aniket in Sirsa, all related to immigration fraud, according to the police.

Police have meanwhile recovered eight mobile phones, a laptop, 40 passports belonging to residents of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, four Finland TRC cards, six cheque books, several forged rubber stamps, around 10 ATM cards and more than Rs 6.75 lakh in cash, from the gang. Additionally, Rs 4 lakh from Gurcharan Singh’s bank account has been frozen.

Panchkula Commissioner of Police and ADGP, Shibash Kabiraj, said that the police maintain a zero-tolerance stance against networks exploiting youths in the name of foreign employment opportunities. He stated that such criminals will not be spared under any circumstances, adding that the action reflects the commitment of the force to protect the hard-earned money and future of young people.