The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested a resident of Gujarat's Ahmedabad in a human trafficking case for illegally sending Indian citizens abroad since 2015. Bharatkumar Rambhai Patel alias Bobby Patel was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. ED said its investigation revealed that Patel, alongwith others, was engaged in sending desirous Indian nationals abroad illegally for exorbitant consideration on the basis of bogus or fabricated documents for getting visas of different countries with duplicate or bogus passports used as genuine by impersonating the passengers wrongly.
ED's Ahmedabad zonal office arrested Patel and produced him before the Special Judge (PMLA) in the city. The court has granted four days' ED custody. ED initiated an investigation on the basis of a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Gujarat Police against Patel and others for illegally sending Indian citizens abroad since 2015.
ED investigation revealed that "Patel was found to have engaged in sending desirous Indian Nationals abroad illegally for exorbitant consideration on the basis of bogus or fabricated documents for getting visas of different countries with duplicate or bogus passports used as genuine by impersonating the passengers wrongly."
"For this purpose, they used to collect Rs 60 to 75 Lakh for one passenger, Rs 1 to 1.25 crore for a couple (husband and wife) and Rs 1.25 to 1.75 crore if children were also accompanying the passengers desirous of going abroad," the agency said in a statement. In India, the ED stated that various FIRs have been registered against him in Gujarat, Delhi, and West Bengal. The Proceeds of Crime (POC) generated in this case are at least Rs 7 crore.