The Central Crime Branch has arrested seven men, including three Sri Lankans, in connection with the racket, and is continuing its probe.
Published Sep 05, 2023 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 05, 2023 | 9:00 AM
Representational image of an accused behind bars.
The police in Bengaluru must be thanking their stars for the day murder-accused Paramesh decided to try and hide from them.
After all, they were looking for him last month when they stumbled upon three illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka.
Their statements triggered a domino effect of arrest and investigation that ended with the cops busting an illegal passport racket that could have brought 60 such people into the country!
What’s even more significant is that evidence suggests people from the Regional Passport Office (RPO) in the city could be involved in this racket, hinting at corruption deep in the system.
A total of seven people — including the three illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka — have been arrested in the case, the cops have said, with the investigation still underway.
The unravelling of this entire spool of mystery appears to start with Paramesh alias Jaiparamesh, an accused in a murder case registered at the HAL Police Station in Bengaluru who had dropped off the police radar after securing bail.
In late August, cops from the Central Crime Branch (CCB) learnt that he was living in Yelahanka, almost the other side of town, and paid him a visit.
There, they found Paramesh living with three Sri Lankan men, later identified as Kasan Kumara Sanka from Gampaha, Amila Nuwan from Kaduwela, and Ranga Prasad from Colombo.
That the trio could not speak any Indian language raised the suspicions of the cops. Their investigation revealed that these three were Sri Lankans, who had taken the sea route to Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu before boarding a bus to Bengaluru about 15 days ago.
The police later learnt that the three were wanted for at least three to four murders and gang-related activities in Sri Lanka. They had apparently fled the island nation fearing arrest and retribution by rival gangsters.
While the Sri Lankans were arrested under the Foreigners’ Act, Paramesh was booked for aiding and abetting the crime.
After interrogating these four men, the police arrested two others — Mansoor Ali, a Chennai resident, and Anbazhagan, a Tamil man living in the Ejipura area of Bengaluru.
The police said that Mansoor Ali was peddling drugs sourced from illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka.
He apparently then helped them find jobs in a Peenya-based factory run by a suspected Sri Lankan named Jalal Mohammed Siddique. Jalal is currently not in India, said the cops.
Investigation revealed that Ali would get these illegal immigrants employed in the factory so they could familiarise themselves with the local language and people.
Meanwhile, Anbazhagan managed to obtain their domicile certificates and other documents — including even Aadhaar cards — through illegal means, said the cops.
He had been running an agency named Horizon Enterprises in the Koramangala area of the city. Its advertised services include visa assistance, but the police suspected that it was a front to facilitate illegal activities.
CCB sources told South First that Horizon Enterprises was within a two-kilometre radius of the Koramangala Police Station and the RPO, where he appeared to hold a good rapport with at least some passport officials.
The police were also suspecting the involvement of some RPO officials since the passports of the illegal immigrants were delivered to Anbazhagan, instead of going to the applicants’ addresses via post.
On 31 August, the CCB officials along with the Vivek Nagar police conducted a search on the premises of Horizon Enterprises and found several domicile documents and visa applications.
The police also arrested one more man, named Kumar, who worked with Anbazhagan. However, his role in the racket is yet to be ascertained.
Anbazhagan’s confession and the documents seized from his office made the CCB suspect that he had helped at least 60 people get passports using forged domicile documents.
“Two FIRs have been registered: One is the Yelahanka Police Station against Paramesh alias Jayaparamesh for aiding and abetting the crime and against the three foreign nationals under sections of the Foreigners Act,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) SD Sharanappa told South First.
Another FIR was against Anbazhagan and others with the Vivek Nagar police for forgery and impersonation, and also under sections of the Indian Passport Act, he added.
“We have made seven arrests in the case. The accused are in CCB’s custody for further interrogation,” he confirmed.
