Delhi Police bust massive international fake passport, visa racket; 5 arrested including mastermind

With the arrest of the mastermind from Mumbai, Delhi Police have cracked a massive fake passport and visa racket. The arrest was made by the Delhi Police's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport unit. In the case, 325 bogus passports and 1,200 false stamps have been seized so far.

Tanu Sharma, the DCP (IGI), has revealed that the mastermind, Zakir Yusuf Shaikh, has been arrested in Mumbai. DCP further alleged that Zakir has made significant investments in various Marathi web series. So far, five persons have been detained in the case, including one passenger.

Delhi | The syndicate was operating for a long time. They had fake rubber stamps, visas, driving licenses. Zakir is the main mastermind. They've sent 200 people abroad, but we're probing it further. More people will be arrested in this syndicate: DCP (IGI Airport) Tanu Sharma https://t.co/siqA30twzm pic.twitter.com/gmV4xi0CMO

— ANI (@ANI) August 20, 2022

DCP Sharma also provided details on the recovered fraudulent passports and visas. She said that 325 fake passports and over 175 bogus visas from Australia, China, and other European countries were seized from those arrested.

"We have recovered 77 bio pages, 12 printers, a Polymer stamp machine that helped to change photo accuracy in the passport, and an Ultraviolet light machine," she said.

On August 6, the IGI section of Delhi Police got a complaint from the immigration department regarding the deportation of Ravi Rameshbhai Chaudhury, who was originally from Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

"When the inquiry was launched following the filing of the FIR, it was discovered that the Bio page of the passport, in this case, had been altered." The passport's bio page has a Passport Related Information Official Data Exchange (PRIDE) with certain criteria that aid in distinguishing between a genuine and fake passport. In this case, the Bio page was forged; it contains information about the photo, signature, address, and location of issue. These particulars have been altered. Secondly, the passport was restiched," DCP Sharma informed.

After making the initial arrest in the case on August 3, Delhi police had their first success with the arrest of Zameer Bicharwala, which revealed that the syndicate was operated from Mumbai with a proper setup, allowing a new passport to be granted.