Eight posing as students, prof to UK held in Mumbai airport

The Mumbai police apprehended eight persons at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport while they were being sent to London illegally by posing as students participating in an exchange programme, an official said.

The accused, seven of them posing as students of a Haryana-based private university and one as a professor, have been charged with human trafficking, the official said.

They were caught at the immigration checkpoint of the airport in the early hours of Monday, he said.

He said the accused allegedly used forged documents and furnished false information to procure visas to the UK.

The accused were travelling to London via Jeddah, the official said, adding that their agent had demanded Rs 20 lakh from each of them to facilitate their immigration illegally.

Officials of the Bureau of Immigration initially found that two of them were travelling to London on UK visit visas, he said.

The official said that on questioning, the travellers said they were participating in a student exchange programme through a private university in Hisar with their professor.

However, they were unable to provide details about the university they were heading to, and they were taken away for further questioning, he said.

The official said the accused, who posed as a professor, told the authorities he was travelling with seven others to London on the Haryana varsity's instructions.

He claimed that he met the travellers and an agent, identified as Bittu, at a hotel in Delhi and was taking them to London on his instructions.

The travellers told the immigration authorities that the agent promised to help them immigrate to the UK and had demanded Rs 20 lakh from each of them, the official said.

The agent also allegedly procured visas for the travellers by submitting forged documents to the UK Embassy, he said.

He said the eight accused were handed over to the Sahar Police for further action.

A case has been registered against the accused under section 143 (trafficking), 336(2) (forgery) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and Passport Act, the official said.

The crime branch has taken over the probe, he said.

Earlier, the Mumbai Police had busted a human trafficking racket by arresting a man who had sent over 80 persons to Canada, Turkey, Netherlands and Poland on forged passports and visas.