11 minors illegally sent to US on forged documents, accused on bail

A shocking case of human trafficking has come to light in which it is learnt that 11 Punjab-based children were illegally sent to the United States by an Uttarakhand-based visa agent from New Delhi. The accused was arrested by the alert immigration staff of the US Embassy while he was about to take another minor, the 12th, along with him to the US on the basis of fake documents.

After the arrest, the accused was sent to judicial custody before being granted bail by a Delhi Court, stating that bail is a rule, jail is an exception.

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In this connection, an FIR has been lodged by the Overseas Criminal Investigator at the Regional Security Office of the US Embassy, Mr. Jeffrey B. Gieser.

Police sources said that the accused, identified as Attarpal Singh, a resident of Dehradun, was allegedly trying to send a 13-year-old boy to the US claiming that he was his real son. However, during visa interview, the child disclosed that Attarpal Singh was not his father but a visa agent. The victim was found to be Sukhraj Singh from Punjab.

During the verification of records, embassy officials discovered that Singh had previously applied for US visas for at least 11 other children claiming to be their father. In every application, the same names — Attarpal Singh as father and Amarjeet Kaur as mother — were used.

Investigations revealed that the accused obtained passports for the children from the Regional Passport Office in Dehradun using forged affidavits, fake birth certificates, and fabricated documents. Investigators claimed that the forged birth certificates were prepared with the help of a person identified as Raju, who met the accused near the MCD office in Dehradun.

Sources said during interrogation, Attarpal Singh confessed to have sent 11 children to the United States on fake passports and forged identities.

The investigators, later, contacted the Passport Office and Nagar Nigam authorities in Dehradun.

According to sources, replies received from both departments confirmed that the passports and birth certificates of the children had been issued in the name of Attarpal Singh as their father on the basis of false information and forged documents.

Police sources also claimed that fake school certificates, forged affidavits, and fabricated birth records were used to create the identities of the children.

Travel records collected from the FRRO showed that the accused had travelled to the US along with some of the children but several of them never returned to India.

During the investigation, police traced parents of the children, who spotted their sons and daughters in the photographs attached to the embassy complaint. Notices were issued to the parents to join the investigation.

Sources claimed that the parents told the investigators that Attarpal Singh had assured them that he would send their children to America through “legal means.” The police said he charged between ₹10 lakh and ₹15 lakh per child.

The police also questioned the accused’s wife and son, Jaspreet Singh. Both reportedly told the investigators that they were not aware of his activities and did not know the families of the children involved.

The accused has been booked under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Passport Act. Police sought custodial interrogation to uncover the larger conspiracy behind the trafficking, trace out his co-accused, if any, and trace the current whereabouts of the children sent abroad.

Further investigation into the matter is ongoing.