Youth held at Delhi airport with forged passport

Manpreet Singh, a 40-year-old resident of Mohali, was desperate to change his life. Watching many of his friends settle in Canada and earning well, he believed his chance at a better future lay overseas.

But when repeated visa rejections shattered his hopes, he turned to an illegal route — one that led to his arrest at Delhi’s IGI Airport.

On the night intervening April 9 and 10, Manpreet arrived at the airport, clutching a passport in the name of Kamaljeet Singh and a boarding pass for Toronto. He was nervous but hopeful.

However, sharp-eyed immigration officials noticed that the photo on his passport didn’t match his face. A few probing questions later, the truth came out.

The matter took a serious turn as the police registered an FIR at the IGI Airport police station and began a deeper probe.

Manpreet confessed that he had paid Rs 20 lakh in advance to an agent, Rupender Singh, who promised to take him into Canada using someone else’s identity. Another Rs 12 lakh was to be paid once he reached there.

According to the police, Manpreet had checked into a hotel in Mahipalpur as instructed by Rupender, where he met his two accomplices — Harish Chaudhary from Gujarat and Vishal Dhiman from Uttar Pradesh. They handed him over the forged passport and escorted him to the airport.

The cops tracked down the trio hiding in Himachal Pradesh. All three accused have been arrested.

Punjab