A 42-year-old man has been apprehended by Delhi Police for allegedly deceiving individuals by promising to facilitate their travel abroad using counterfeit passports, as per officials on Thursday.
The arrested individual, identified as Sayed Shoukat Ulla, was captured in Hyderabad, according to reports.
Authorities revealed that Ulla, operating as a ticket booking agent, was part of a syndicate that enticed victims by offering fake passports for foreign countries at discounted rates, under the guise of arranging their overseas journeys.
This arrest follows an incident over a year ago, wherein two passengers and an agent, traveling with counterfeit Malaysian passports, were apprehended by the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport police.
“During the investigation, both the mentioned passengers disclosed that their journey to Europe via Azerbaijan was arranged by one agent, Vijay Patel, in exchange for Rs 40 lakh (Rs 20 lakh for each passenger),” stated Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI) Usha Rangnani.
Further inquiry led to the arrest of Vijay, and it was discovered that Ulla had booked the tickets for both passengers and was also involved in the production of forged Malaysian passports.
Ulla had been evading arrest and was on the run in connection with the case. Acting on intelligence that he was planning to escape to Dubai via a flight from Hyderabad, a Delhi Police team reached the airport and apprehended him, according to the Deputy Commissioner.
(With PTI inputs)
