The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids in Gujarat, Delhi, and Maharashtra, in an ongoing investigation of illegal immigration from India to countries like Canada and the USA. Bank accounts of the accused were frozen, and many documents and devices were also seized during these raids.

The ED said in its statement that under the Money Laundering Act, it raided around 29 locations in three states since Mar 1.

FIR by Gujarat police

This investigation drive was initiated by the ED after an FIR was lodged by the Gujarat Police against accused Bharat alias Bobby Patel, Raju Prajapati, Bhavesh Patel, and others. Bharat Patel was arrested in 2022.

The police disclosed in the charge sheet that the accused have been preparing fake documents of Indians and sending them abroad since 2015.

₹60-75 lakh a person for illegal immigration

The ED said that the accused used to extort ₹60-75 lakh from a person for acquiring visas illegally based on forged documents. For couples, prices were set to ₹1.5 cr, and if a couple had a child with them, they used to charge them ₹1.75 cr

The investigation also revealed that some students were given forged student visas even without enrolling into any educational institution. 

A Gujarati agent’s name also came to light in a case where a family died while walking from Canada to the US in extreme cold.

Passports, identity cards, digital devices, and two luxury cars were seized from the accused and bank accounts with deposits of ₹50.10 lakh were frozen.

Similar raids were conducted by ED in Jan-Feb 2024, too.

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