CHENNAI: The fake passport wing of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) in Chennai arrested six travel agents on Monday for forging Aadhaar cards to obtain Indian passports illegally. The scam was uncovered in August when immigration officials at Chennai airport identified passengers carrying fake Indian passports obtained with forged documents. Based on complaint from the immigration officials, police started an inquiry.
A police team conducted raids at various travel offices on Saturday across Tamil Nadu, and seized a laptop, two computers, six mobile phones, 54 passports and written agreements between agents and applicants. The arrested agents were identified as P Satish Kumar (46), A Kalyan (40), Nalla Mohammad (60), Nasar Ali (47), Faisal Rahman (29), and B Kumar (48).
The agents ran travel offices in Madurai, Devakottai and surrounding areas. They targeted deported individuals who were denied visas and jobs abroad due to age restrictions and also those who were blacklisted and could not go abroad due to legal problems, charging them large sums with false promises of securing new passports, visas and jobs.
Their modus operandi involved forging Aadhaar cards to alter birth details, applying for new PAN cards and then obtaining fresh passports using these documents. The arrested agents were remanded in judicial custody, while earlier arrests of the passengers were made in August. The police said that they have sent the recovered passports to the regional passport offices.