9 years on, Gujarat cops nab fake visa scam accused

AHMEDABAD: The

Gujarat ATS

on Thursday arrested a man accused of sending people abroad using fake documents.


Dharmendra alias Dharmesh Ramnagina Bhagat (43) of Malad in Mumbai was on the run for the past nine years.

The police had arrested two accused - Niranjan Malviya and Prakash Malaviya of Mumbai - who were later released on bail in January 2012.

"While two of the accused were arrested, Bhagat managed to escape and remained at large for about nine years," ATS officers said.

"On a tip-off and through electronic surveillance, we traced Bhagat to his house at Malad in Mumbai and arrested him on Thursday morning. He has been sent for pre- arrest Covid-19 test," added an ATS officer.

The officers said that during his primary interrogation, it came to light that the accused had already sent 15 people to abroad and took Rs 15 lakh from each of them.

"We will try to dig how many more he sent abroad during the time he remained absconding once we get his police custody from the court" added an official.