7 with fake Schengen visa deported from Dubai, arrested at city airport

Mumbai: Seven flyers were detained by immigration officials at Dubai Airport during their transit and deported to Mumbai International Airport on Friday. Sahar police arrested the individuals, hailing from Gujarat, after immigration officials at Mumbai Airport discovered they had travelled to Dubai on tourist visas and attempted to transit using fake Luxembourg Employment Schengen Visas. The men intended to enter Luxembourg as tourists before settling and seeking employment.The detainees— Kaushikkumar Patel (50) from Gandhinagar, Arthkumar Patel (25) from Ahmedabad, Maharshi Patel (21) from Mehsana, Prithvirajgiri Goswami (23) from Mehsana, Bhargav Joshi (33) from Mehsana, Krunalkumar Prajapati (25) from Motera, and Mohammed Jed Husenkhan Pathan (26) from Mehsana—planned to visit at least 29 different locations in Luxembourg as tourists. "Their travel was planned by local agent, Kisan, from Gujarat. They were provided with tourist visas and fake Schengen visas. During interrogation, they revealed the agent provided them with details to travel to European nations and settle. The team is now tracking the agent who created the fake visas," said a police officer from Sahar police station.On Friday night, immigration officer Vishnu Sawant was inspecting arrivals at Mumbai Airport. "During inspection, I discovered that seven individuals were deported from Dubai with visas flagged by Dubai immigration," said Sawant. The individuals were handed over to wing in-charge Suraj Yadav and Meena Kaushik for questioning.Upon examination, immigration officers identified Schengen Employment Visas for Luxembourg in their passports, which were counterfeit with missing security features. "Further interrogation indicated that agents provided them with the visas and assured them that they could settle in any of the 29 Schengen countries without needing permission for stay and could easily find employment," explained the immigration officer. A Sahar Police officer mentioned that after an email to the the airline licensing agency confirmed that the seven individuals had not been issued visas by Luxembourg authorities.