The Ambala police have struck a major blow to the illegal immigration industry by uncovering a local laboratory dedicated to the forgery of national identity documents.
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Modus Operandi: The gang targeted youth desperate to reach countries like the US, Canada, and Kazakhstan. They created entire “fake personas” using forged Aadhaar cards, birth certificates, and Class 10/12 marksheets. These were used to apply for genuine passports through local Regional Passport Offices (RPO) by bribing low-level verification officials or manipulating the police verification process.
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The Arrests: Based on a tip-off from the Special Task Force (STF), police apprehended three key members of the gang. Preliminary interrogation suggests the group charged anywhere between ₹3 lakh to ₹5 lakh per “package,” which included the fake passport and a corresponding visa application for “gray-list” countries.
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Criminal Nexus: Investigators are probing the link between this gang and the Bishnoi syndicate, as several members of the gang have been found to have assisted aides of jailed gangsters in obtaining travel documents.
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Digital Forensic Evidence: The seized laptops contain data for over 50 individuals who have already left India. Ambala police are now working with the Bureau of Immigration and Interpol to track these individuals.
Community Sentiment
“Ambala and Kurukshetra have become hotspots for these ‘donkey route’ agents. While we feel for the families who lose their savings to these scams, it’s a relief to see the police actually shutting down the factories that make these fake papers. It protects our national security,” said a local lawyer in Ambala City.
