Delhi Police Crime Branch has registered an FIR against several visa and passport agents primarily operating from Punjab and Haryana, following a complaint from the US Embassy regarding fraudulent activities. The FIR was filed on February 27, based on the embassy’s complaint about agents submitting false information and providing fake documents in US visa applications to deceive the US government.
The complaint, filed by a representative of the US Embassy in New Delhi, claims that these agents—both known and unknown—were involved in using fraudulent means to obtain visas. Investigations conducted between May and August 2024 resulted in a list of individuals suspected of being linked to the fraudulent activities, including document vendors and education consultants involved in providing fake educational, bank, and employment documents.
More than 30 visa and passport agents, along with passengers seeking visas using fake documents, have been named in the complaint. Specific cases of fraudulent visa applications were also highlighted. The Delhi Police Crime Branch is currently investigating the matter, and an FIR has been filed under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act.
In a related incident, US federal immigration authorities have detained Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown University researcher from India, who was studying and teaching on a student visa in Virginia. The detention follows a crackdown on student activists under the Trump administration, which has targeted individuals accused of opposing US foreign policy.
Suri, a postdoctoral fellow, was arrested by Department of Homeland Security agents outside his home in Arlington, Virginia. The agents informed him that his visa had been revoked, and he was placed in deportation proceedings. The legal challenge filed for his release argues that Suri has no criminal record and has not been charged with any crime. The deportation provision invoked by the US government allows non-citizens to be deported if their presence is considered a threat to US foreign policy, a measure also used against other activists like Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student.
As investigations into both the visa fraud case and Suri’s detention continue, these developments highlight ongoing challenges related to immigration fraud and the government’s stance on foreign policy-related activism.