Two arrested for human trafficking
Following a tip-off, Chilukuri Balaji, 43, and Sunkara Shiva Kumar, 30, were arrested from a hotel in Nampally. The police seized 14 tampered visas and passports, police clearance certificates (PCCs), 16 flight tickets, and other incriminating documents.
The scam came to light on May 13 following a complaint by Gandikota Venkata Ramana, a 38-year-old resident of West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh, who stated that the Kuwait visa, issued on a tourist basis, was tampered with to conceal the real travel purpose. The complainant was one of eight women lured with promises of lucrative jobs in Kuwait, only to realise at RGIA that the passport had been illegally altered, showing a 'cancelled' visa stamp to mislead immigration officers.
Investigations revealed that Balaji and Shiva Kumar, both self-styled Gulf travel agents, were running a widespread network of sub-agents across Andhra Pradesh and Mumbai. Operating under Srinivasa Global Recruits, the duo forged travel documents, tampered with visas, and coordinated with medical diagnostic centres in Hyderabad to process pre-departure formalities. After collecting victim's passports, fraudsters also arranged accommodation near Nampally before transporting them to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport for travel.
Their modus operandi involved two levels - they stamped genuine work visas with a fake 'cancelled' imprint and paired them with tourist visas and round-trip tickets, to fool immigration at departure; second - they removed cancellation marks and presented original work documents, police clearance certificates (PCCs) and boarding passes at the point of entry in the Gulf countries. Victims were instructed to destroy all tourist-related documents mid-journey to avoid detection.
Balaji collected ₹5,000 and ₹8,000 from the victims in the form of fee for visa, medical clearances and flight bookings. Police also said that sub-agents paid as much as ₹60,000 per person, out of which the accused retained ₹5,000 to ₹8,000 as commission.
The scam exploited gaps in emigration protocols. While ECNR (Emigration Check Not Required) passport holders can travel with original work visas and PCCs, ECR (Emigration Check Required) holders require additional documents including a POE (Protector of Emigrants) clearance. The accused bypassed these regulations, sending people on tourist visas without job contracts or insurance, exposing them to exploitation abroad.
Further investigation and efforts to trace the remaining accused are underway.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
11 hours ago
- Time of India
‘Hiring scam' by colleges leaves engg grads in the lurch
Hyderabad: Amid a slowdown in recruitments, several engineering graduates from Hyderabad are being taken for a ride by 'fake' job offers. And it isn't dubious consultancies but private B Tech colleges that are at the centre of this scam, students allege. According to them, at least a dozen colleges across the city – to lure more students with 'impressive' placement records – are tying up with small firms to issue fake offer letters that, soon afterwards, are withdrawn. In some instances, fresh graduates TOI spoke to said they landed up at work with these letters only to find that the firm is a sham and exists only on paper. Majority of them are being offered 'trainee engineer' or 'trainee developer' posts with modest starting salaries of Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 a month. You Can Also Check: Hyderabad AQI | Weather in Hyderabad | Bank Holidays in Hyderabad | Public Holidays in Hyderabad "A Hyderabad-based firm even gave me a joining date. But when I went there, I realised there was no such company running from that location," said B Balaji, who recently completed his electrical engineering from a college on the outskirts of Hyderabad. He alleged that the company hired hundreds of students in the placement drive, only to leave them high and dry. "When the company came for placements, we ran a background check. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like When Knee Pain Hits, Start Eating These Foods, and Feel Your Pain Go Away (It's Genius) Read More Undo by Taboola by Taboola It had a LinkedIn page with a decent following. So, we assumed it was genuine," said Balaji, adding, "But later, when it was time for us to join, we found that the company had deleted its online footprint. There was no way we could contact anybody either as the phone numbers weren't working." B Tech graduate, Praneeth Kumar, from another mid-size private institute had a similar experience. "While the company recruited 10 students, the management gave job letters to over 25. I realised that the offer given to me was fake when the placement officer kept giving vague replies about my joining and eventually said the offer was rolled back," alleged the CSE graduate. Advertisement material Students claim colleges have turned them into advertisement material to showcase on placements boards even when they know these jobs are bogus. "My college's publicity material claims I got two job offers. In reality, one company hired me as an intern falsely promising a Rs 3.6 LPA salary after completion. The other, which offered Rs 4.5 LPA for a Salesforce developer role initially gave May 1 as joining date but has since gone silent despite repeated follow-ups. My college says it's not its responsibility," said Nithin B, a ECE graduate. 'Only way to save colleges' reputation' Shockingly, training and placement officers (TPO) at some of these colleges admit to this practice. They claim they are forced to manipulate students and create fake records to protect the college's reputation. "In the last two years, the job market has been very dull. So, to help colleges show placements, in order to attract fresh enrollments, we have been drafting fake offer letters in one of the recruiters' names or paying a firm that's willing to give job offers to students," said a placement officer working with engineering colleges for almost two decades. He added: "It is true that these jobs are often only on paper." Another TPO claimed that the count of such colleges increased by at least 30% this academic year. "Earlier, only a few colleges used this tactic. Now, many are doing this. They call companies even when they do not have job requirements and are issuing fake offers," she added. Members of the Telangana Schools Technical Colleges Employees Association said the issue has been brought to their notice by faculty from different colleges. "They have even filed complaints about this arrangement between college managements and firms. Both parties are aware that these offers will not be honoured," said A Santosh Kumar, president of the association, demanding action against such colleges. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Raksha Bandhan wishes , messages and quotes !
Time of India
4 days ago
- Time of India
Sri Lankan woman accuses immigration official of stalking her at Hyderabad airport
Hyderabad: A Bureau of Immigration official at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Hyderabad was booked for stalking a 24-year-old woman passenger from Sri Lanka at the airport. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The complainant alleged that he was repeatedly pressurising her to leave the terminal with him during a transit halt on Sunday evening. Police said the incident occurred at around 5 pm on August 3 when the 24-year-old woman, pursuing an undergraduate music degree at a Chhattisgarh-based institution, arrived from Colombo by IndiGo flight 6E-1182. "I arrived at 4.30 pm, and there was a 16-hour transit halt for my next flight to Raipur. I picked up my luggage, filled in my details on the immigration form, and handed it over to the official at the immigration counter. He asked me if I was alone at the airport and gave me his number, asking me to call him if I needed any help," the complainant said. At 6.22 pm, when the student was waiting at the airport, the immigration official called her and asked her to come to the car park. "He kept insisting that he would show me the city and that I could leave my bags in his office. He said he would take me to dinner. When I refused, he kept calling and suggested we could go to a room where I could rest," the complainant said. Distressed, the student alerted a friend who advised her to approach the airport police. She then lodged a written complaint during the early hours of Monday with the RGI airport police. Based on her complaint, a case was registered against the suspect under section 78(1)(i) (stalking) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "Based on the mobile number of the accused, he has been identified as a Bureau of Immigration staff member working at the airport. We are collecting evidence and verifying the allegations. He has been issued a notice to appear before the investigating officer as per legal procedures," said an airport police official.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Time of India
With slash in import duty, gold smuggling at RGIA falls by 70%
Hyderabad: Gold smuggling at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) has seen a sharp decline following a reduction in import duty from 15% to 6% last year and heightened surveillance. According to data obtained through an RTI application filed by TOI with the customs department, gold seizures decreased by 68%, from 132.4 kg in 2023-24 to 42.5 kg in 2024-25. The worth of gold seized at RGIA during 2024-25 is Rs 32.11 crore. On the other hand, cigarette seizures experienced a threefold increase, rising from 54 cases in 2023-24 to 175 cases in 2024-25. The RTI data shows that in the previous fiscal, authorities apprehended 133 flyers involved in gold smuggling, down from 240 in 2023. Whenever a passenger is caught smuggling goods, including gold, the case is investigated and a showcause notice is issued under section 124 of the Customs Act, 1962, says the RTI reply. You Can Also Check: Hyderabad AQI | Weather in Hyderabad | Bank Holidays in Hyderabad | Public Holidays in Hyderabad "Passenger profiling, baggage scanning, deployment of officers for monitoring, and coordinating with intelligence agencies have helped prevent smuggling of gold and other goods. We have a staff of 96 in the office of deputy/assistant commissioner at RGIA," said AV Ramana Murthy, deputy commissioner, customs, RGIA. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Access all TV channels anywhere, anytime Techno Mag Learn More Undo The majority of smuggled gold originates from West Asian cities, such as Jeddah, Sharjah, Dubai, Muscat, Kuwait, and Bahrain, with passengers attempting to conceal gold in various forms such as paste, capsules and garments. During screening, authorities have also discovered gold hidden in passengers' rectums. In one incident reported on June 25, 2024, RGIA customs officials seized 806 gm of gold worth Rs 58.8 lakh from a passenger arriving from Abu Dhabi, who had hidden it inside his rectum. The current market rate for 24-carat gold in Hyderabad stands at approximately Rs 1 crore per kg, indicating that a smuggler can potentially gain Rs 5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh per kg of gold. Usually, gold is cheaper by 5% to 7% in countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar. Under customs regulations, passengers can carry gold, including jewellery, up to a maximum limit of 1 kg in their baggage. For jewellery owned for more than one year, male travellers are permitted a duty-free allowance of up to 20 grams, whilst female passengers can bring up to 40 gm without paying customs duty as part of their legitimate baggage. MSID:: 123076053 413 | Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Friendship Day wishes , messages and quotes !
