The international human trafficking gang, which was busted by Cyberabad police, had mastered the technique of using an iron box to remove work visa document affixed to the passport and later paste the same on board. Using an original job visa, the gang used to create a duplicate visit visa and send Dinar-dreamers to Kuwait taking Emigration Check Required (ECR) clearance from Protector of Emigrants (PoE).
“The agents get work permit approval from the embassy in Mumbai by showing the visa and offer letter. Further to avoid paying 750 Kuwaiti dinars (approximately ₹1.50 lakh) to PoE office - which has to be paid by employer in Kuwait -- they will remove the permit document from passport with the help of a hot iron box and ask the flyer to affix the same after boarding the flight, Cyberabad police commissioner V.C. Sajjanar said.
“The agents will manipulate the work visa as visit visa and clear the immigration process. If any flyer is medically unfit, he/she will be taken to Sri Lanka on a transit visa and from there to Kuwait,” he said. The passengers were accommodated in hotels and ‘classes’ were conducted to familiarise them with the travel documents, he said. In the last few years, the two gangs have sent thousands of people from the Telugu states to Kuwait, forcing them to be ‘bonded labourers’, he said. The entire process is to avoid paying security deposit amount to PoE , he said.
On Wednesday, Cyberabad police arrested 18 people, including 15 agents, two airline staff and a constable attached to Chevella police station. In the last one month, the RGIA police have registered 14 cases, in which 71 accused were arrested and 21 are absconding. They seized 250 passports, fake visas, 38 mobiles, fake rubber stamps, 160 police verification certificates, and other incriminating material.
Mr. Sajjanar said that constable G. Madhu used to issue police verification certificates. Illegal travel agents are operating from all major airports like Hyderabad, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.
