Three kabaddi players held with fake visas

Trio tells police coach had sent them to Malaysia with forged documents.

A group of three national-level kabaddi players were arrested at the Indira Gandhi International airport (IGIA) for their alleged involvement in a human trafficking racket.

The racket, police said, was facilitated by their coach who has been on international visits several times. Police have launched a hunt for him.

The three arrested were identified as Sandhu Harinder Singh, Harjeet Singh and Shaminder Singh, all residents of Faridkot in Punjab. Police said they were in the age group of 21-25 years.

According to police, on the intervening night of October 25-26, the immigration staff at the IGIA detained the three accused as they suspected that the Japanese visas, issued from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, affixed on their passports were fake.

The passports were sent to the Embassy of Japan in New Delhi for verification, police said.

On November 2, the embassy informed police that the visas were fake. A case of cheating and forgery was registered against the three thereafter.

"They came to Delhi from Punjab and then left for Kuala Lumpur. There, they checked their passports and realised that the Japansese visas on their passports were fake. They returned to India and were detained by the immigration authorities," a senior police officer said.

Later, during questioning, the three players allegedly told police that they were aware of the fact that they were being taken to Malaysia not to play, but to illegally sneak into that country.

"They also revealed that they were being facilitated by their coach Gurdeep who had travelled abroad several times and has trafficked several people this way. They told us that Gurdeep had paid a middleman Rs 80,000 each after taking this amount from the accused and arranged the fake visas. Gurdeep had accompanied them to Kuala Lumpur. The three men were to be sent ahead to Japan, but when they realised that the visas were fake, they returned to India," the officer said.

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