Jammu, July 03: Several people from Jammu region travelled to South Korea for work in the last few years after obtaining visa through forged documents or other dubious means, an ongoing probe by Mumbai Police has found.
The crime branch of the city police last week busted a gang which allegedly obtained visas using fraudulent means for people seeking work in South Korea.
It managed to send at least eight persons to the east Asian country over the last one year but two of them were sent back to India, said an official, who is familiar with the probe, on Wednesday.
The Mumbai crime branch has so far arrested two Navy officers — Lieutenant Commander Vipin Dagar and Sub Lieutenant Braham Jyoti — along with Simran Teji, Ravi Kumar and Deepak Dogra in the case.
The syndicate was active since May last year.
During the probe, it was also found that many people from Suchetgarh in Ranbir Singh Pora tehsil of Jammu district traveled to South Korea using similar means (with the help of different syndicates) in the last few years, the official said.
After travelling on tourist visa, they worked in South Korea as daily wage workers in factories and also on construction sites, he said, noting that wages in that country are much higher than those in India which makes South Korea an attractive destination even for illegal workers.
Braham Jyoti was allegedly the mastermind of the racket busted last week, the police had claimed two days ago.
While Braham Jyoti and Deepak Dogra are school classmates, Jyoti and Dagar have known each other for years, the official said.
Pune-based Simran Teji, who taught German, came in contact with Braham Jyoti through a dating app and got involved in the racket. Her bank accounts were used to receive money from the people sent to South Korea, the official said.
Police were investigating whether the members of the syndicate, including naval officer Dagar, had sent people to other countries as well, and letters are being sent to the consulates of several countries seeking information, he added.
Five years earlier, he had declared a residential house in the posh Jawahar Nagar locality of Srinagar, purchased in 2017, as his only asset and also stated that he had a liability of Rs 60 lakh towards a home loan from a bank.
Rashid won the Langate assembly segment in 2008 and 2014. He unsuccessfully contested the 2019 parliamentary elections.
On October 7, 2017, he sparked a major controversy by hosting a beef party on the lawns of the MLA hostel in Srinagar and said, “No court or legislature can prevent the people from eating what they want.”
He was assaulted by BJP MLAs inside the assembly the next day.
According to the FIR by the NIA, the case against Rashid was registered for raising, receiving and collecting funds through illegal means to fund separatist and militant activities in Jammu and Kashmir and for causing disruption in the Valley by way of pelting stones on the security forces, burning schools, damaging public property and waging war against India.
His name cropped up during the interrogation of businessman and co-accused Zahoor Watali.
Later, Rashid’s bail application was rejected by a special court in Delhi, stating that the accused received unaccounted funds from Watali against whom there had already been reasonable grounds for a prima facie case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
