Man held in capital for running US visa racket

Accused is a former employee of US embassy

NEW DELHI: A former official of the US embassy was arrested in New Delhi on Monday for allegedly helping at least 30 people apply for US visa with forged documents.

The embassy had on October 9 registered a case of human trafficking against 30 people who had applied for visas in the guise of members of a musical troupe.

Accused Sanjay Kaushik had been running a visa consultancy firm since he was sacked from his job at the embassy for reportedly conniving with travel agents to secure illegal visas.

Kaushik was arrested from his west Delhi residence after the Delhi Police “got sufficient evidence to establish his role in the trafficking racket”, a senior police officer said. He said Kaushik used to get Rs50,000 per candidate from US-based Farooq Mehmood Chaudhary for the job.

The police said Chaudhary was the kingpin of this racket. “His contacts in India contacted artistes, including Punjabi pop singer Dolly Malkit Singh, for shows abroad and formed a troupe, which also comprised 21 others who were to be illegally taken to the US,” the source said.

In their visa application, the troupe members said they were going to perform in stage shows in the US over three months. However, an embassy official, said: “The Troupe members could not even answer basic questions about musical instruments. Neither could they answer simple questions on what instruments they played. This made us suspicious and we alerted the police.”