Illegal travel on rise at IGI airport

By Bindu Jacob

NEW DELHI, FEB. 18. This has to be Ramrajya, or simply a case of the guilty becoming far too clever for the long arm of the law. But, the Delhi police would rather have you believe that ``people don't prefer to travel by illegal means any more; simply because the laws are too tight and the hassles far too many''.

So while the cops claim that the number of those who travel abroad using illegal means has reduced, statistics show an annual rise in the number of persons caught travelling without proper papers. ``Stringent laws'', cops will tell you, is what caused the rise in the number of persons arrested in Delhi and those deported.

An estimated 35 lakh passengers pass through the Indira Gandhi International Airport here annually, of which a mere 590 in 2000 and 415 in 1999 were caught using forged documents to travel abroad. ``It is often non-availability of copies of the visa of these countries which leads to non-detection here. Often youngsters use visa stickers which are cleared by our country but are found false abroad later,'' claims a police official.

``Most often deportation happens when youngsters are caught giving false reasons for travel, which include participating in sports or cultural events, sight-seeing purposes, or short business trips when they have neither the money nor other requisites to prove this to the authorities abroad'', says the Deputy Commissioner of Police (FRRO), Mr. P.K Bhardwaj.

``Another popular modus operandi is to take a detour to easily accessible CIS countries and then try for a visa to Canada, the US or Germany which remain the most favoured destination,'' he adds.

``There are over 30 types of forgeries that are known to us, including photo substitution, impersonation, page replacement, visa forgery and duplication of passport, but the youngsters, in their desperation to go abroad, with the help of advanced machines and technology, devise new means of forgery; making detection difficult,'' says Mr. Bhardwaj.

``The involvement of `agents' who have been in the field for long and their widespread network adds to their problems. The youngsters caught are illiterate and unemployed who are desperate to go abroad at any cost. They, most often, fall prey to these agents. Typically, these youngsters are not even aware that they may be tarvelling on forged papers. We are now trying to nab these agents to curb the menace, '' says Mr. Bhardwaj.

Meanwhile, Delhi, which traditionally has been the hub of these illegal activities, has seen a proliferation of agents operating in the city who make available passport, visa and other required papers -- fake or genuine -- for a price, police officials claim.

An address in the city gives them instant credibility which help these agents attract gullible youngsters. The proximity to various embassies and the international airport add to the advantages of being placed in the Capital.

Talking about measures introduced to check illegal migration, Mr. Bhardwaj says: ``Besides increasing vigilance and cracking down on agents, the Central Government has introduced computer coding of information on the new passports issued from New Delhi, which should help reduce the number of people travelling abroad illegally. The system, however, does not hold good for people who already have passports.''

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