Fake passport racket busted by CBI after French Embassy’s biometric alert
New Delhi: A fake passport racket has been busted after the French Embassy approached the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), stating that biometric details showed a man who had applied for a visa possessed two passports.
According to a CBI source, after the filing of an FIR, raids were conducted at multiple locations in Delhi and Punjab, leading to the recovery of incriminating documents.
The source mentioned that reliable information was received regarding an identity fraud that was detected at the French Visa Service in New Delhi. It was noticed that two different passports, issued by the Regional Passport Office in Delhi, had the same biometrics. These passports were issued in the names of Gursharandeep Singh and Sarvjit Singh.
The CBI learnt that Simal Singh and his wife Manjit Kaur obtained a passport in the name of their minor son Gursharandeep Singh from the RPO in Jalandhar in 2020, valid until 2023.
“It has also been revealed that Simal Singh and Manjit Kaur conspired with Kirpal Singh and his wife Suresh Kumari, residents of Tilak Nagar, to obtain another passport for their son. As part of this conspiracy, they forged a birth certificate issued by the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad in the name of Sarvjit Singh, falsely stating him as the son of Kirpal Singh and Suresh Kumari,” said a CBI official.
An application was submitted by Kirpal Singh to the Regional Passport Office, requesting a passport in the name of Sarvjit Singh, with Gursharandeep Singh’s photograph attached to the application.
“Gursharandeep Singh signed the application using the name Sarvjit Singh. Kirpal Singh and his wife Suresh Kumari submitted an affidavit, the fake birth certificate, and photocopies of their passports as supporting documents for the application. Subsequently, a passport was issued by the RPO in New Delhi in the name of Sarvjit Singh,” said the official.
Gursharandeep Singh first attempted to obtain a visa from the Embassy of Spain, using the fake passport issued in the name of Sarvjit Singh, but it was rejected by the Embassy twice. Later, he approached the French Embassy with a visa request.
“The French Embassy rejected his visa application as his biometrics matched with the biometrics obtained by the Embassy of Spain, exposing the fake passport. Following this, we filed a case against Simal Singh, his wife Manjit Kaur, Kirpal Singh, his wife Suresh Kumari, and unknown others,” said the official.
