IGI trafficking case: Hunt on for cop

Arrested on Friday,the accused,identified as Sanjay Bhai,was the link between the passengers and the immigration officials. Police said Bhai’s brother,who is currently absconding,is wanted in another human trafficking case reported from the IGI Airport in July last year,in which 27 people were arrested for allegedly travelling on forged documents to Dubai. The passengers had been promised jobs in Iraq and were going there via Dubai.

On April 3,the Delhi Police had arrested immigration officer Chaman Azhar for allegedly facilitating the travel of passengers on forged immigration stamps in exchange for money. The other accused Manoj Sarpal,who was employed as commercial staff with Jet Airways,used to provide fake boarding passes to passengers,police said.

Four passengers,including three women,were also arrested — they belonged to Mumbai and different cities in Gujarat. The fraud was detected after a woman,identified as Asha Panigrahi,was deported from Brussels in Belgium for travelling on a forged immigration stamp on March 20.

Passengers paid anywhere between Rs 17-30 lakh to fly out of the country.

“It was a well-planned racket being run in connivance with immigration officials and policemen. The involvement of more people is likely,” said a senior police officer. Police said Bhai used to come to Delhi with the passengers,facilitate their travel out of the country and then return to Gujarat.