Mumbai: The city crime branch has busted a human trafficking and fake passport racket that allegedly used forged identity documents, bank statements and PAN cards to obtain passports and facilitate illegal migration to the US and Canada, mainly for people from Gujarat, police said.Crime branch unit 8 arrested Imtiaz Rafiq Qureshi (45) and Shakeel Sharif Shaikh (42). Police said they are searching for more than a dozen suspects, including Aslam Panchal, who has been arrested in more than eight human trafficking cases over the past 10 years.The accused have been booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to forgery, cheating and use of forged documents, along with provisions of the Passport Act, police said.Police named Kanchanben Chavda, Aslam Shaikh, Khorabhai Patel and Mittanben Patel among those the gang allegedly helped migrate abroad using forged documentation.Officials said the case surfaced early this month after the Central Intelligence Unit received confidential information that Qureshi and Abdul Karim Abdul Ghaffur Hamdare (71) were involved in sending passports to people outside India using forged documents and the identities of other persons.Based on the input, police approached the Regional Passport Offices in Mumbai and Ahmedabad and carried out technical verification of suspicious passports. An official said the scrutiny indicated that some passports had been obtained using fake bank statements, PAN cards and other documents.According to police, a passport issued in the name of Mittalben Nikulkumar Patel (34) was allegedly used in connection with a passport created in the name of Nayab Imtiaz Qureshi. Investigators also alleged that passports were obtained in the names of children by misrepresenting their identities.Shaikh was arrested on Aug 3 from the Andheri railway station area for his alleged role in preparing fake passports, police said, adding that his interrogation led to information about other suspects and a suspected financial network.Police said a search of Shaikh’s residence in Bharat Nagar, Bandra-Kurla Complex, led to the seizure of multiple passports, bank documents, Aadhaar and PAN cards belonging to Shaikh and his family members, along with a mobile phone.Investigators said Mittalben identified Khorabhai Patel as a person who allegedly prepared passports using forged documents and facilitated their dispatch to the US in return for money. Police also alleged that Hamdare helped create a fake passport for Kanchanben from Gujarat in the name of Thane resident Dilshad Hamdare to facilitate her travel to Canada for financial gain.Police said technical analysis has established links between the arrested accused and other suspects. The investigation is ongoing to identify the full network, trace money transactions and determine how many fake passports were created and used for illegal migration.
