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A court in Mumbai has granted bail to Indian Navy officer Braham Sharma, arrested for alleged involvement in trafficking people to South Korea on forged documents, noting that he has been under detention since June 2024 and the trial is yet to commence.
Police had claimed that Lieutenant Commander Sharma was the mastermind of a gang that allegedly sent 8 to 10 people to the East Asian country using bogus papers and charged Rs 10 lakh per case.
Sharma’s bail was allowed by Additional Sessions Judge V M Pathade on December 13. A detailed order was available on Tuesday.
Sharma, in his bail application, had claimed he was innocent and was falsely implicated in the crime.
The accused stated that he was not a beneficiary of the crime money.
The investigation culminated in filing a chargesheet and hence his further detention is unwarranted, Sharma’s plea said and pointed out that a co-accused has been granted bail.
The prosecution opposed the bail contending that Sharma played a major role in committing the crime, unbecoming of a Naval officer.
Police have alleged that Sharma’s associate and co-accused Vipin Dagar, also a Navy officer, was found in possession of 14 Indian passports in the name of different persons, a stamp machine (purchased from Vishakhapatnam to make fake stamps), 108 rubber stamps of distinct establishments, and a rubber sheet used for creating forged and fabricated documents to be used as genuine for obtaining passport/visa.
Sharma had collected such documents through another co-accused and sent them to Dagar.
He used to receive money in bank accounts operated by his mother and grandmother, the police said.
The prosecution argued that sufficient material was collected by the investigating agency, disclosing Sharma’s active participation in the entire activities leading to the commission of the offences.
The court stated that the chargesheet in the case was filed by police.
Sharma has been under detention since June 29, 2024, and the other co-accused persons were granted bail, the court stated.
“The trial is yet to commence, there is no likelihood of the trial being concluded in the near future, ” the court observed while allowing bail for Sharma.
Police had said earlier that Vipin Dagar prepared forged documents and forwarded them to the Korean consulate. He was taking instructions from the mastermind Braham Sharma, who was arrested from Lonavala.
The MRA police station in Mumbai had registered a case against five persons for cheating and forgery under the Indian Penal Code, and the Passport Act.
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