Kingpin of bogus passport racket held

The kingpin of a bogus passport racket, who was absconding, was held on July 8 by the Sahar police in Mumbai. The accused, 50-year-old Pappu Shaikh, a resident of Mumbai would send people abroad on forged passports with the help of immigration officers.

DNA had first reported about the nexus between such agents and immigration officers last month. The police had busted the passport racket after arresting two immigration officers at Mumbai International airport.

Police claim that the accused managed to send more than 50 persons abroad, mostly to Canada and US, on fake passports in the last two years. Including Shaikh, the police have also arrested 14 persons accused in the case.

These include four immigration officers, one woman flyer, and eight agents.

According to the police, Shaikh had made contacts with immigration officers and agents who would work for him by helping flyers process their visa formalities. The accused would allegedly replace pictures from original passports with his client's photo and would inform the immigration officers in advance about their clients. These officers would then let these clients pass through without checking their documents thoroughly.

Shaikh operated the racket from Mumbai and all his clients were from Gujarat.