Eight people have been arrested for running a sophisticated factory making Canadian visas in New Delhi. At the same time a Canadian High Commission program assistant in India is being investigated for extorting visa applicants. Now police in Canada and India are trying to determine the extent of both operations to see how many people had used them to enter the country illegally

By Asian Pacific News Service

Not too far from the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi, past the building that houses India's Ministry of Tourism, is Connaught Place Shop 23/90 otherwise known as Hindustan Tours and Travels.

Located in the heart of New Delhi's business district, the travel agency did a booming trade according to locals because of its location, proximity to the diplomatic missions in India's capital and in-house expertise.

Hundreds passed through their doors on their way to holidays and new lives abroad in Canada, the United States, Australia and Europe. The customers were mostly from Punjab, Bihar and Delhi.

Four of the suspects arrested

The operators of Hindustan Tours and Travels, who opened for business about two years ago, helped with everything from visa applications to airline tickets to finding accommodation.

That was until a New Delhi policeman identified as Constable Sudhir heard that Hindustan Tours and Travels was also in the business of manufacturing fake visas and passports.

He took the information to his boss which triggered a clandestine police operation using decoys.

Last week, New Delhi police announced they had busted one of India's most sophisticated fake immigration rackets which is thought to have helped dozens illegally enter Canada and other countries.

The police team also recovered 150 fake Canadian visas, 160 U.S. visa stickers, 15 Slovak Republic visas, security holograms used on visas and about 200 forged sheets of documents to make Indian passports.

In addition, police also recovered fake visas for Philippines (150), New Zealand (25), Germany (five), Switzerland (85), Senegal (seven), Republic of Slovenia (18) visas and 40 visas of other European countries.

"One can only imagine how many terrorists or crooks used this system to get into the country," said an Ottawa-based security consultant who has helped investigate visa scams.

"Normally in a case like this, officials at the Canadian diplomatic mission will initiate an internal inquiry to determine how many people had used the operation to get into Canada?it will definitely cause some internal strife in the embassy," he said.

"In some cases they can be tracked and deported but not in all circumstances," he said.

Anita Roy, the Deputy Commissioner of Police in New Delhi, Anita Roy the travel agency was being run for the past two years as a front for a large and sophisticated visa racket.

The operation also had its own printing plant where police seized computers, scanners, a screen printing chemical and machine, a machine used for affixing plastic papers on the forged visa stickers, two machines to apply dies on passports and other implements.

Roy said so far eight people have been arrested in connection with the case while her officers are hunting for more suspects.

Indian media said that the police operation was headed by Sub-Inspectors Vinod and Suman.

Vinod sent a decoy customer to the Hindustan Tours and Travels to strike a deal. The decoy asked for a Canadian visa, upon which the suspects said it could be arranged within hours for a payment of Rs. 1.5 lakhs (about C$5,000)

The decoy said he could only pay Rs. 50,000 (about C$1,500) as a deposit.

Police allege the suspects then asked the decoy to hand over a cheque for Rs. 1.5 lakh, assuring him that it would be returned on full payment for the visa.

About an hour later after the Canadian visa was prepared for the decoy customer, two other suspects entered the office.

At that point a police team raided the office and arrested four people ? including the owner

Daljeet Singh, Arvind Khanna, Dhanna Singh and Amar Singh. Four more visas recovered from the office.

Indian police said their interrogation of the suspects showed that the operation had a printing plant in an area known as Vishnu Garden. That part of the operation was allegedly run by a man known as Nawal Kishore Verma.

When they raided the printing plant several people, including two computer operators and a scanning and printing expert, were in the midst of making fake Indian passports and applying security features on the documents.

As this investigation progressed, police in New Delhi arrested two people, including an employee of the Canadian High Commission, on charges of threatening a visa applicant and demanding Rs 50,000 (C$1,500) from him.

According to police, Gurvinder Singh, a 28-year-old resident of Haryana, had applied for a visa at the Canadian High Commission 18 months ago.

Police said that Singh submitted the required documents along with the visa application, including his educational certificates, proof of residency and proof of marriage.

Two months ago, Singh allegedly received calls saying that his visa application was likely to be rejected unless he paid Rs 50,000.

Singh informed police who then set up a trap.

Police arrested two people who turned up to collect the money at a pastry shop in New Delhi's Bengali market.

One of them, a used car dealer told police that the plan to extort Singh was hatched by

Harpreet Singh, who worked as a Programs Assistant at the Canadian High Commission. Harpreet Singh, was later arrested at his house.

Police with the help of Canadian High Commission officials are now trying to determine if the two suspects had extorted other visa seekers.