KOCHI: The Police are after agents of a European racket that operates in Kerala to take young women to that continent using forged documents, promising them lucrative jobs and bright future, for a payment of Rs 5 lakh. The activities of the racket came to light when a 29-year-old woman from Kuruppampady in Ernakulam, who was offered a job as home nurse in Italy, was caught by German authorities at the Frankfurt airport for travelling with fake documents and deported a few months ago.
The police said the racket used fake letters of big companies in Germany and Italy to fly these women as company officials from India for business meets. “They use Schengen Visa issued for companies under business visit category to take these women. The racket offers them safe stay till they get a job visa within a few months after reaching Italy. There are agents in Kerala to canvass women from poor families. Around Rs 4 lakh-Rs 5 lakh is collected from each applicant,” said a police officer.
The police, which registered a case at the Kuruppampady station on June 10 based on a complaint lodged by mother of a victim, identified three main suspects of the racket --- Raiju T of Chayyampamkuddy, Thrissur, Lakshmi PS of Kazhiyoor, Thiruvananthapuram and Balu S of Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu. “A woman is said to be the main person, canvassing young women in Kerala for the racket. We are trying to locate her,” said the officer.
Kuruppampady Inspector Sajeev M K said they are carrying out a detailed probe. The 29-year-old victim, who spoke to TNIE on condition of anonymity, said she was given a letter of a reputed international company by the racket in which it was said that she was travelling to Germany for their official purpose.
“Though my destination was Italy, they booked air ticket for me only up to Frankfurt. I flew first from Kochi to Delhi and then from Delhi to Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi to Frankfurt. They told me that an agent would take me to Italy from Frankfurt via road.
But when I reached the Frankfurt airport, German authorities caught me for carrying the fake letter of the company and deported me. I never thought it was a fake letter. I flew to Germany after agents convinced me that everything was legal. I and my mother had borrowed the money from different people. Many families have fallen into the racket’s trap,” she said. Preliminary probe had revealed that a few Keralites based out of Ukraine and Italy were behind the activities.