Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Sunday said that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to keep a check on immigration fraud has so far arrested about 30 agents accused in more than 24 cases in various districts for illegally sending people abroad.
The SIT has also recovered more than Rs 35 lakhs from those arrested, Vij said while talking to the former Union Minister Balwant Singh Ramuwalia and renowned Punjabi singer Harbhajan Mann who had called on the Minister at his residence on Sunday to enquire about his health and wish him a speedy recovery.
Last month, Vij had undergone surgery at a hospital in Mohali after he had a fracture in his left thigh bone.
The former Union Minister Ramuwalia appreciated and thanked Vij for constituting the SIT to keep a check on immigration fraud in Haryana.
He said that during his political career, he had raised his voice against illegal immigration and took action against it in Punjab, but despite his efforts for many decades, the governments of Punjab paid no heed to it.
He said that by constituting an SIT in Haryana, Vij has dealt a big blow to the business of immigration fraud. This will not only tighten the noose around the fraudsters but will also provide relief and justice to lakhs of victims in the State, Ramuwalia added.
The Home Minister Anil Vij informed that the newly constituted SIT has arrested about 30 agents accused in more than 24 cases in various districts. He said that the command of this SIT has been given to Inspector General of Police, Karnal Range, Bharti Arora, and six other SP level officers have been included in it. Vij further said that the SIT constituted by the government is also investigating the cases registered in the previous years.
This fraud came to light when a youth from Haryana was illegally sent to the United States by some agents in the year 2018-19, where they were caught by the police and jailed. After being in jail for a long time, they were deported to India by the US government.
Taking cognizance of their complaints, on the orders of the Haryana government, 254 cases were filed against the agents by the police.
Apart from this, 156 new cases of immigration fraud have been registered which are being investigated by this SIT, he added.