New Delhi, March 7 -- The Inter-State Cell of the Delhi Police's Crime Branch has successfully dismantled a major fake passport syndicate that was aiding criminals in fleeing abroad, leading to the arrest of seven individuals including a member of Neeraj Bawana gang and a former Punjab Police constable.
According to the police, the operation led to the arrest of seven individuals, including a gangster from the Neeraj Bawana gang and the alleged mastermind of the network.
Authorities also recovered six fake passports, multiple forged identity documents, and specialized equipment used in the forgery process.
The crackdown was the result of a four-month-long investigation initiated in response to the increasing trend of criminals and gangsters making threats from foreign locations.
Law enforcement agencies faced difficulties tracking these individuals, who used forged identities to evade capture.
To tackle this issue, a dedicated team led by Inspector Manmeet Malik was assigned to identify and dismantle the network responsible for helping criminals escape the country using fraudulent passports.
Investigators relied on both technical surveillance and on-ground intelligence gathering to trace the syndicate's operations.
Their findings revealed that the network was involved in producing fake Aadhaar, Voter ID, and PAN cards, which were then used to obtain authentic passports under false names.
The nexus had established strong connections with officials at passport offices in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, who facilitated the approval of fraudulent applications.
To uncover the syndicate's activities, the Crime Branch engaged a decoy client to request a fake passport. The suspects, led by Nishant Kumar Saxena and his associate Sufiyan, prepared fraudulent identity documents under the alias Kamal Kumar Sharma.
These forged documents were then submitted for passport processing with assistance from compromised employees at the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) in Lucknow.
On February 25, after confirming the syndicate's operations, the Crime Branch conducted a raid at Nishant Kumar Saxena's office in Lucknow. He was arrested while attempting to deliver the fake passport to the decoy client. Further searches at his residence and workplace resulted in the seizure of five additional fake passports, mobile phones, CPUs, and various counterfeit identity documents.
Among those arrested was Nishant Kumar Saxena, a 42-year-old advocate who previously ran a travel business.
Investigations revealed that he had been facilitating fake passports for criminals and parole jumpers using a network of agents across Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi-NCR. His associate, Sufiyan, a 28-year-old agent operating outside the PSK in Lucknow, was also taken into custody.
Atul Kumar, another accused, was found to be linked to Aadhaar centers and cyber cafes, where he assisted in producing fake documents.
Sukhdeep Singh, who ran a consultancy firm in Karnal, Haryana, had been referring clients to Nishant Kumar Saxena for passport fraud services.
The arrested gangster, Monu alias Aryan, was a member of the Neeraj Bawana gang and had multiple prior cases, including murder and Arms Act violations.
He had secured a fake passport using a forged Aadhaar and voter card and was planning to flee to Dubai before authorities intercepted him.
Another arrested individual, Harpal Singh, a 57-year-old history-sheeter from Punjab, had previously faced seven criminal cases. A former Punjab Police constable, he had arranged fake passports for himself and his family members to escape
legal proceedings.
The crackdown resulted in a substantial recovery of evidence. Law enforcement officials seized six fake passports, two laptops, two CPUs, 12 mobile phones, and a PVC color card printer.
Additionally, they recovered hundreds of blank and filled identity cards, including Aadhaar, Voter ID, PAN, and Ayushman cards, all forged to facilitate the illegal operations of the syndicate.
Preliminary investigations into the data retrieved from the suspects' devices have identified multiple criminals who had obtained fake passports through this network.
Authorities have initiated legal proceedings against these individuals, and further arrests are expected.
The police are also investigating the involvement of PSK officials who may have played a role in processing fraudulent applications.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.