Fake French visa racket busted

The IGI Airport police claimed to have busted a Tamil Nadu-based racket involved in arranging counterfeit French D-type visas for Indian job aspirants.

The police arrested an agent and detained three passengers at Terminal 3 of the airport, the police said on Tuesday.

The passengers - Naveeraj Subramaniyam, 23, from Namakkal, Mohan Gandhi Elangovan, 38, from Tiruchirappalli, and Prabhakaran Senthilkumar, 28, from Namakkal - were seeking clearance to travel to Paris when the authorities noticed that the visas lacked essential security features.

A case was registered under relevant provisions of the BNS and Passport Act at the IGI Airport police station.

Investigation revealed that Naveeraj’s fake visa was arranged by his brother for Rs 6 lakh, while the other two had paid Rs 12 lakh each to an agent based in Namakkal.

A team led by SHO Inspector Virender Kumar Tyagi arrested the key agent, V Kannan (55), from Nanjai Adiyar, Namakkal. Kannan runs a government-affiliated ITI in Paramathi and an overseas education consultancy named “Vetri Overseas” in Velur.

During interrogation, he disclosed that he and his associate, Sathik Syed of Madurai, had facilitated fake visas for at least 16 job aspirants for warehouse jobs in Paris. Hunt for the co-accused is on, and the authorities are investigating links to similar cases.

So far, four individuals have been arrested in connection with the case, including the three passengers.

The IGI Airport police said in November 2025 alone, 26 people, including six agents, were arrested in cases related to fake visas or passports. Additionally, 28 touts were apprehended for illegal activities at the airport during the same period.