'Opened Shell Firms, Gave Fake Permits': How 'Dunki' Racket Thrived in Delhi

"The accused, from Bangladesh, paid an Indian man to get photos with Embassy officials to lure expected emigrants."

Nine people have been arrested as Delhi Police busted a 'human trafficking' racket being operated between Delhi and Dhaka.

(Image: Accessed by The Quint)

At least 215 Indian passports, 12 mobile phones, the notary documents of 150 Bangladeshi nationals, and 50 police clearance certificates from Bangladesh and Nepal.

These were some of the incriminating documents recovered by the Delhi Police as they busted a ‘dunki’ racket involving human trafficking being operated between Delhi and Dhaka.

'Dunki' implies the use of illegal immigration channels involving crossing a country's borders through a backdoor route via multiple stops.

The police acted after receiving a tip that a Bangladeshi national, Mohammed Anowar Kazi, was in east Delhi. Kazi was arrested on 5 January along with two other Bangladeshi nationals, Mohammed Kholilur Rahman and Emran Hossain. 

During the investigation, it was found that the Kazi and Rahman both had a double-entry visa and a work permit for Greece, the police said. The three men were also in touch with international agents and traffickers involved in this organised crime syndicate, Additional DCP East Achin Garg said. 

A First Information Report (FIR) was registered at Mayur Vihar Police Station under Sections 370 (trafficking) and 120B (criminal corresponding) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), as well as Section 14 (overstaying the visa limit) of the Foreigners Act, 1946. 

Apart from the three men, Garg confirmed to The Quint that six others have been arrested in the case so far and that further investigation is underway.

The six others revealed that they were sent to India through ‘dunki’ networks – and had “overstayed in Delhi in hoped of reaching European countries somehow.” 

‘Kingpin Operates from Dhaka, Money Comes Through Havala'

During the investigation, Kazi told the police that he was in touch with Mohammed Ali Akbor, who allegedly facilitated the movement of immigrants. 

The police arrested Akbor and two of his aides – Mohammed Ibraheem and Younus Khan – from Sarita Vihar in southeast Delhi on the same day. While Akbor and Khan are Bangladeshi nationals, Ibraheem belongs to Bihar but operates from Dubai.  

“12 passports, 10 mobile phones, three laptops, three pen drives, an inkjet printer, notary documents of 150 Bangladeshi nationals, 50 Bangladesh Police Clearance Certificates and multiple other incriminating articles like diaries, list of victims, etc. was recovered from the trio’s residence,” Additional DCP Garg said. 

During the probe, Ibraheem and Akbor told the police that the kingpin of this syndicate operates from Dhaka, where he runs a manpower consultancy firm and allures citizens with well-paying jobs in Europe. After luring prospective emigrants, he would take an advance of Rs 1-5 lakh and transfer the leads to Akbor and Ibraheem. 

As the victims (the prospective emigrants) would arrive in India on different visas, they were asked to pay more money even as they were deceived that the process of obtaining their visa was ongoing, the accused told the police/

The accused would bring money from Bangladesh to India using the illegal havala/hundi transactions, the police said. 

Ibraheem would open multiple shell companies abroad which he allegedly used to hand out fictitious work permits to the victims to keep them enticed in the process. 

Once their visa would expire, the accused would convince the victims to stay back in India and would forge fake IDs – including Aadhaar card and PAN card – with the help of agents back in Kolkata.  

‘Accused Paid Indian Man To Get Photos with Embassy Officials to Allure Victims’ 

During the investigation, the accused told the police that Akbor used to show photos of him with various Embassy officials to demand more money from his victims. 

“To extract more money from their victims, Akbor used to pay an Indian man, who would get him connected with Embassy officials. Akbor would visit them, get his pictures clicked and show the victims that their work is progressing,” Additional DCP Garg said.  

Last week, during the investigation, it was revealed that a firm by the name of Paradise Consultancy Pvt Ltd in northwest Delhi allegedly used to forge fake work permits in return for large amounts of money in cash from Akbor and Ibraheem. 

The owners of the firm – Dheeraj Bishnoi and Narender Arya – have also been arrested. It has come to light that they had employed one Gaurav Gulati, a 24-year-old with a diploma in animation, to edit original documents and create fake ones. Gulati, who was allegedly paid Rs 18,000 per month for this work, has also been arrested. 

Gulati further told the police that he knows most of Arya’s agents, who are active in Punjab and are charging lakhs of rupees from people to send them to foreign countries using fake documents.