Donkey route to US: Agent held for arranging fake passports
New Delhi: A 49-year-old Mumbai-based travel agent was arrested by IGI Airport Police for allegedly arranging forged passports and facilitating the illegal entry of an Indian woman into the United States via Germany and Mexico.
According to police, the arrest of
Zakir Khan
, a resident of Airoli in Mumbai, is linked to a 2019 case involving Gujarat woman Kinjalben Naranbhai Patel. Patel was deported from US after being detained for over two years. She had used a forged passport to exit India and illegally enter the US, bypassing immigration checks. She was intercepted at IGI Airport in Dec 2019 following her deportation.
"Investigation revealed that Patel travelled to the US using a passport issued in another person's name.
The passport was handed to her at Chennai airport by an agent, Hemang Modi, who posed as her father to get her through immigration. She later travelled to Mexico, returned the passport, and then entered the US illegally," said additional commissioner of police (IGI Airport) Usha Rangnani.
"Agents Hemang Chanderkant Modi and Hitesh alias Bobby were arrested in 2024. They named Zakir Khan as an associate. Several attempts to nab him failed, but based on specific inputs, a police team tracked and arrested him in Ahmedabad," Rangnani added.
by Taboola
by Taboola
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During interrogation, Zakir Khan admitted to working as a travel agent and facilitating forged documents and illegal travel in exchange for a Rs 2 lakh commission. He had been working closely with Hemang and Bobby to arrange similar illegal entries abroad.
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