To take ‘donkey route’ to US, 24-year-old poses as elderly man after salon makeover, gets caught at IGI airport

His wife, Archana Kaur, who was about to try a similar impersonation, fled from the spot. She was later bound down.

Police said the accused and his wife are residents of Lucknow and had been staying at a hotel in Mahipalpur for a week now.

A case of cheating was lodged against Guru Sevak, said police.

“During the course of investigation in the case, Guru Sevak disclosed that the couple wanted to go to the US to secure a job and a chance at a better livelihood. Guru Sevak had got in touch with an agent, Jagjeet Singh alias Jaggi, through one of his friends. Jagjeet promised to send Guru Sevak and his wife in an illegal manner to the US through Canada via the ‘donkey route’ on the passport of another person in exchange for Rs 60 lakh,” said DCP (IGI) Usha Rangnani.

Guru Sevak told police he had already given Rs 30 lakh to Jaggi. He said the rest of the amount was supposed to be transferred after reaching the destination. “As per the deal, Jaggi arranged a passport of one Rashvinder Singh Sahota for him. Similarly, the passport of one Harjeet Kaur was arranged for his wife for their journey to Canada,” added Rangnani.

The makeover story

On the directions of the agent, one of Jaggi’s associates took Guru Sevak to a salon based in Tilak Nagar to make him look like an “old man”.

“One of the salon staffers gave him a makeover in order to make him appear like the picture in the passport…he got his beard bleached white for Rs 2,000,” said an officer.

Police also arrested agent Jaggi from his hideout in Rudrapur in Uttarakhand. During questioning, Jaggi told police that he was a graduate who ran a company “True Talk Imagination” in UP’s Bijnor. The company deals in booking tickets and sending people abroad. “During his work, he came in contact with some agents who used to cheat people on the pretext of sending them abroad and started working with them,” said the DCP.

The owner of the salon where the makeover took place is being questioned, said an official, adding she is now a witness in the case.