Following the arrest of a supposed agent from Ahmedabad by the Delhi police, a probe revealed his involvement in the illegal migration of people. On August 18, the Delhi police arrested Vishal Barmate, an agent who used to provide doctored US visas to many from Gujarat.
Investigations have revealed that Barmate and his gang ran a ‘visa on departure at the airport’ racket for people who wanted to migrate illegally. According to sources, Barmate and his bosses from Mumbai would obtain various visa stickers which they would paste on the passports of travellers who wanted to cut corners.
Barmate’s name had cropped up during the investigation of a case of people smuggling registered with the IGI (Indira Gandhi International) airport police on July 7.
“The people smugglers from Mumbai for whom Barmate worked had obtained visa stickers from various government offices through illegal means,” said an Ahmedabad police officer. “Many who availed of this service were from North Gujarat who wanted to reach the US.”As per an FIR filed with the IGI airport police on July 7, four men from Mehsana—Harshad Patel of Dholasan; Jatin Nayee of Kadi; Dikshit Patel of Mokasan; and Hitesh Trivedi of Visnagar—were also booked for producing fake documents to travel abroad in April and May this year.
Of roughly 10.3 million undocumented immigrants in the US, 5,87,000 are of Indian origin, says a recently released report by think-tank New American Economy.
