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CBI team in London to probe visa racket
February 20, 2004 18:08 IST
A three-member Central Bureau of Investigation team is in London to probe the immigration and visa racket in which some officials in the Consul General of the Indian high commission in Britain are allegedly involved.
The team comprising a Deputy Inspector General and two sub inspectors are examining the files of the Consul General after the CBI registered a case at the request of Ministry of External Affairs, CBI sources said.
The team would study the details of 'Operation Harvest' conducted by Scotland Yard into the matter besides inspecting the files pertaining to the case.
The CBI has been given a complaint that the Scotland Yard found some of the personnel posted at the Indian Mission in London had been indulging in forging original visas to facilitate entry of fake persons.
A team of Scotland Yard had visited the CBI headquarters in Delhi recently seeking its help in the probe as Britain's Immigration Department had registered a case in this connection, the sources said.
The sources that the probe could not be limited to London and some investigation would have to be done in the United States, Canada, Ethiopia, Greece and certain CIS countries as well.
It is alleged that some of the diplomatic staff posted at various missions were stealing passports, issued to the embassies for emergency purposes, and issuing the same to people in alleged conspiracy with travel agents, the sources said.