Vadodara: What began as a visa fraud complaint involving 19 victims has widened to 29 after police interrogation of an arrested husband-wife duo allegedly running a consultancy in Anand revealed 10 more people who may have been cheated.Anand Town police arrested Hardik Shah and his wife, Ankita Shah, in connection with the alleged fraud, in which people were promised work-permit visas and jobs in European countries.The case was registered on Sep 10 after 19 applicants approached police, alleging that they had paid money to the accused for visas and related processing. Their statements were recorded during the initial investigation.However, questioning of the couple led investigators to identify 10 more victims, taking the number of people allegedly duped to 29 so far.“Since the offence was serious, the husband and wife were taken into custody for interrogation. During the interrogation, details of more victims came to light,” Anand deputy superintendent of police J N Panchal said on Sunday.According to police, the accused were associated with Krishna Overseas Consultancy, located on the first floor of Navliwala Building in Anand. The consultancy allegedly used social media to advertise work-permit visas and jobs in countries such as Serbia, Armenia and Croatia, as well as Dubai.Investigators allege that applicants were asked to pay money towards visa and processing charges, after which fake e-visas were provided to some of them.Police said three people were named as accused in the case. While the Shah couple has been arrested, the third accused, Nandkumar Ukani, remains absconding.Police also searched the couple’s residence and the consultancy office and seized documents and other material relevant to the investigation. Police are scrutinising transactions made from the couple’s bank accounts to trace the money allegedly collected from applicants.
