Punjab Police Arrests Three for Arranging Fake Passports to Help Gangsters Flee the Country

Three men suspected to be part of a gang have been arrested for assisting gangsters flee the country. At least nine passports and several photocopies of passports were recovered and the three accused were interrogated, after which they confessed to making fake passports.

Identified as Onkar Singh of Kaki Pind village in Jalandhar, Sukhjinder Singh alias Sharpy Ghumman of Karhali village in Patiala, and Prabhjot Singh Baheri of Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, the three men were arrested by the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) of Punjab Police. Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav shared that they helped gangsters and criminals from Punjab and other states flee the country.

At least nine passports were seized and several photocopies of passports of absconding gangsters prepared using fake particulars were recovered. AGTF teams headed by ADGP Promod Ban and assisted by AIG Sandeep Goel conducted an overnight operation and arrested the trio. Yadav said, “Investigations reveal that this gang, having linkages in states including Delhi, UP, Kolkata, Gujarat and Maharashtra, had facilitated a number of gangsters/criminals from Punjab and other states to flee from the country on fake passports.”

According to reports, a case has been registered against the gang under Sections 420, 468, 471, 473 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Section 25 of the Arms Act and Section 12 of the Passport Act against the accused. Additionally, five more persons linked with this gang have been rounded up by the police and are being questioned.

The trio was questioned by the police and as per ADGP Promod Ban, Onkar ran an illegal immigration firm in Jalandhar and was involved in making passports for gangster/criminals using fake particulars. He also duped innocent people on claims of sending them abroad. Onkar also confessed that he arranged fake passports for gangster Varinder Pal Singh alias Veena Butter (Bambiha gang) and Jaswinder Singh alias Khattu (Dharminder Gugni gang).

Prabhjot Singh, another accused, shared that one of his conduits Charanjit Singh alias Bareilly (arrested by Delhi Police) made a fake passport for gangster Deepak Boxer, who was recently deported from Mexico. Sukhjinder Singh alias Sharpy Ghumman revealed that he procured a fake passport for Deepinder Singh alias Deepu of Ajnala, who is an associate of absconding gangster Harry Chatha and also has a criminal background.

Vineet Washington