Delhi Police bust visa racket targeting 19 Nepali nationals; two arrested

Two persons were arrested for their alleged involvement in a fraudulent visa racket that duped 19 Nepali nationals of nearly Rs 70 lakh under the pretext of providing employment opportunities in Serbia, the Delhi Police said on Wednesday.

The police said that the arrested men, Jayakab, 41, who happens to be the mastermind of the syndicate, and his accomplice Rupesh, 42, lured the victims with false promises of overseas jobs with forged visas and doctored documents.

Advertisement

During a press conference, Aditya Gautam, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), said, “A team of Crime Branch unit of the Delhi Police dismantled a fake visa racket with the arrest of two accused.”

“The arrested men had cheated around 19 Nepali citizens of approximately Rs 70 lakh, of which Rs 60 lakh was fraudulently taken. One accused is named Jayakab, and the other is Rupesh,” DCP Gautam said while briefing reporters.

Adding to his statement, the officer said, “We have recovered a total of 13 original Nepali passports and incriminating digital evidence from their possession while conducting raids We also have a lead that there are more people involved in this gang; however, they are at large, and efforts are ongoing to track them down.”

The matter came to light after an FIR was lodged on Friday by 22-year-old Sujan Khadka, a native of Nepal, where he, along with 18 others, alleging that one of the accused approached them in Delhi’s Seelampur area in April 2024, claiming he could arrange Serbian work visas through influential contacts.

After gaining their trust by showing fake Serbian visas and job offer letters, the accused asked for their passports and a payment of approximately Rs 70 lakh (3,500 euros) from each, through QR code-based digital transactions. They were then asked to travel to Delhi in July 2025 to collect their visas. But when they arrived in Delhi, the duo started evading them with false assurances and eventually resorted to threats and intimidation.

After a verification, as the visas issued to by the duo turned out to be fake, a formal complaint was lodged against them, leading to the registration of FIR No. 222/2025 under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Jayakab, who is originally from Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, is fluent in Nepali and used his language skills to pose as a travel agent, targeting Nepali citizens. He has a history of defrauding both Indian and Nepali youths with false promises of overseas employment.

During interrogation, he admitted to have worked closely with three of his associates, Sachin, George (alias Bijoj), and Rupesh, all of whom played a key role in collecting money, documents, and threatening victims.

Rupesh, from Bihar’s Siwan, has been operating as a travel agent for the last 15 years. He confessed to have received and distributed the defrauded money and handled transactions via WhatsApp calls and unregistered SIM cards to avoid detection.

The investigation revealed that Rs 60 lakh was moved from Nepal to India through a network involving a Nepali national named Rajaram and coordinated by one Ashish Pandey. Hawala couriers collected the funds in Delhi and partially deposited them to bank accounts belonging to Jayakab’s wife and acquaintances.

Further investigation is underway, and more arrests and recoveries are expected in the coming days.