How a gang used ‘mundi-cut’ passports to illegally send people abroad from Mumbai

They preyed on the desperation of these persons, charging between Rs 30 and 75 lakhs, even more. The majority of these people hailed from Gujarat, and wished to unite with their families abroad.

What to know about the gang

The police have alleged that Ajit Puri, who heads the gang, is the biggest player in the city in this business. Puri has been a repeat offender, with 14 registered cases dating from 2000 to 2010. He has been arrested on multiple occasions, but has made bail.

His gang includes DTP operators, who design counterfeit documents, as well as the brother of a former Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) councillor who was also arrested. According to the police, Puri operated a network of agents in Gujarat who would contact people whose visas had been rejected, and connect them with him.

The ‘mundi cut’ passport

Once the travel aspirant paid up, the gang would purchase the passport of a citizen who has a visa to the country of choice. A person with a US or Canada visa may sell their passport for around Rs 5 lakh, according to an official who spoke with The Indian Express.

Following this, the other members would replace the photo on the passport with that of the aspirant, cutting and pasting a photo. DTP operators like the arrested Sudhir Sawant aided this task, thus creating a ‘mundi cut’ passport.

The gang had to account for matching the age of the passport holder with that of the aspirant. According to the police, the expertise of Sanjay Chavan, another accused member was imperative to stitch the passport.

Bypassing airport security

The process went on for as long as it did simply because of the lapses in information accessed by different parties at the airport: Airline counters do not have access to passport verification details to independently verify the traveller’s identity, while immigration officials do not have access to visa or boarding pass details.

Thus the gang established a system allowing the traveller to assume the original passport holder’s identity on the day of the travel. This person would be instructed to carry two folders – one bearing the “mundi-cut” passport bearing the original visa, and another containing the person’s original passport with a forged visa and boarding pass hidden in their bag.

Guiding the traveller on this process was the councillor’s brother, Roshan Dudhwadkar, who would be present at the airport under the pretext of travelling on a later flight. He would furnish the aspirant a new SIM card, phone and Bluetooth device. Using a burner Bluetooth device and a new SIM himself, he would guide the aspirant about the steps to be followed.

The aspirant would present the ‘mundi-cut’ passport to the CISF security and the check-in counter. The aspirant would proceed to check in their luggage, obtain their boarding pass and clear security check, with Dudhwadkar instructing them through the process. The airline counter would not raise an alert about the passport during check -in as they are not given access to passport details.

After this, the traveller would swap the ‘mundi-cut’ passport with their original passport. Immigration officials have access to passport details and would flag the ‘mundi-cut’ passport if detected. At this stage, they would present their own passport with the fake visa and boarding pass, which would be undetected by the immigration official.

The traveller would then use a foldable rubber seal to put a fake immigration stamp on the “mundi-cut” passport and on the boarding pass. They would flush this seal by sticking two Rs. 10 coins and two pieces of chewing gum they’d be asked to carry, with the gum and the coins weighing the seal down.

Finally, the traveller would present the ‘mundi-cut’ passport with the visa and immigration stamp to the airline staff and board the flight. According to the official, the checking upon arrival is not as rigorous, allowing the traveller to proceed virtually undetected. Gang members at the airport of arrival would guide the traveller.

How was the scam busted?

The official said that the scam was busted after officials found that Dudhwadkar was flying to Thailand every month, while someone was travelling to the US or Canada.

The Mumbai police special branch then asked the crime branch to probe the matter in the last week of February. Dudhwadkar’s arrest busted the gang.

An official said that the police and airport officials are taking steps to plug the loophole in the airport security procedures so that such gangs do not take advantage of the same.