Mumbai police bust passport racket targeting US and Canada

Mumbai crime branch has arrested two men for running a fake-passport racket that helped people from Gujarat illegally migrate to the US and Canada. Imtiaz Rafiq Qureshi (45) and Shakeel Sharif Shaikh (42) were held after the Central Intelligence Unit received a tip-off early this month. Police said forged bank statements, PAN cards and identity documents were used to obtain passports in false names.

Investigators have identified at least four people the gang allegedly helped migrate, including Kanchanben Chavda and Khorabhai Patel. A passport issued in the name of Mittalben Nikulkumar Patel was linked to a passport made for Nayab Imtiaz Qureshi. Searches at Shaikh’s residence in Bandra-Kurla Complex yielded multiple passports, bank documents and Aadhaar cards.

Police are searching for more than a dozen suspects, including Aslam Panchal, who has been arrested in over eight human trafficking cases in the past decade. The accused have been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for forgery and cheating, along with the Passport Act. Technical analysis has linked the arrested accused to a broader network, the probe continues to trace money transactions and determine how many fake passports were issued.