Ludhiana man deported from UK after visa scam; Jalandhar agent booked

A 23-year-old man from Ludhiana’s Baba Nand Singh Nagar was deported from England after spending two weeks in jail for availing a visa on fake documents.

Manpreet Singh was allegedly duped of lakhs by a Jalandhar-based agent. After months of investigation, Ludhiana police on Wednesday registered a case against the agent.

As per information, he was sent abroad using forged documents by an agent identified as Shauki, a resident of Jalandhar. Shauki allegedly took Rs 10.5 lakh from Manpreet's family, promising to secure a work permit for him in England.

The money was arranged from the retirement funds of Manpreet’s father, Pyara Singh, who used to work in an insurance company.

Pyara Singh said that his own brother had introduced them to Shauki and claimed the agent had previously sent many people abroad and had a clean record. The agent sent his son to England in October 2024. Surprisingly, his tourist visa expired the very next day — a fact Manpreet was unaware of, as the agent controlled the email accounts related to his travel.

Singh added that his son somehow managed to stay in a hotel for a month at his own expense. Later, during a routine check, British authorities caught Manpreet. During verification, fake documents were recovered from him, and he was jailed for 15 days.

“I then hired a lawyer and spent Rs 5 lakh to get my son released from jail and brought him back to India,” claimed Manpreet's father.

After returning to India, Manpreet’s mental health deteriorated, and he had to be admitted to a hospital for about a month, which further cost the family Rs 1.5 lakh, he further claimed.

Later, when the agent was asked to return the money, he refused. Following this, a complaint was filed in March this year. After months of investigation, police have now registered a case against Shauki. The accused agent is still at large.