Two African men were apprehended by the Crime Branch police Friday in Delhi’s outer district after they were allegedly caught making fake Indian visas, officers said.
Police identified the accused as Ghanaian citizen Ortega Leonard and Ivory Coast citizen Diomande Ali and said 17 ATM cards were found with them, the presence of which the duo could not explain satisfactorily.
Officers said they received information about two African individuals in a flat in Guru Nanak Enclave who were allegedly engaged in cheating and making fake visas. Based on this, they raided the third-floor residence and found them working on a laptop that showed a blank Indian visa. The police said the two immediately closed the laptop and gave evasive answers when questioned about their activities. They also attempted to leave the flat after which the police apprehended the two.
A colour printer was also found near the laptop, along with the passports of four Africans and 20 sheets allegedly used to print fake visas, along with a printed visa slip for one of the passports, officers said. The laptop had several files containing blank formats of Indian visas and had files of Indian visas for seven passports, along with several other suspicious files, they added.
When asked, the accused gave their passports to the police and allegedly admitted that they had made fake visas for their own passports. The police said the two would enter passport numbers and other details along with a photograph in a blank visa and print it.
Investigators added that six of the 17 ATM cards recovered had the names of Indian customers. A case has been filed under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (using forged documents as genuine) and 34 (common intention.)