Ay Caramba! Ring falsifying ancestry for Portuguese citizenship busted

Rajkot: Devbhumi Dwarka police have uncovered a sophisticated racket facilitating illegal emigration to the UK and Europe. For a price of Rs 20 lakh to Rs 35 lakh, Indians were shown to be descended from Portuguese citizens of Indian origin using fabricated documents, to get them Portuguese citizenship and consequently entry to the UK. Nine alleged perpetrators of the racket have been arrested and 54 beneficiaries from Devbhumi Dwarka and Porbandar districts have been identified. The operation involved creating false birth certificates and Aadhaar cards to secure passports supporting the falsified ancestry. This scheme revolves around the unique legal status of individuals born before 1961 in former Portuguese colonies such as Diu, Daman and Goa. These individuals, and their descendants up to three generations, are entitled to Portuguese citizenship, which in turn grants them visa-free access to the UK and other EU countries.The criminal operation exploited this and collaborated with the connivance of corrupt govt officials to fraudulently establish kinship between individuals and Portuguese citizens. Police have apprehended nine persons from Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Surat, Valsad and Daman. Those arrested are Hardik Ravaliya (33), a births and deaths registrar; Ashish Odedara (37); Pratik Tandel (40); Bhavesh Panchal (43); Rikesh Shah (44); Raide Mer (39); Pinakin Rana (30); Bhavesh Kuchadiya (28); and Nihal Tandel (30). The operation functioned as an organized syndicate. Agents identified people wanting to move to the UK and fabricated their paperwork. The beneficiaries would keep their own first names but their middle and last names would be changed to match those of the Portuguese citizens. Beneficiaries would falsely be presented as being younger than 21 years of age to expedite processing as minors. This involved creating fraudulent birth certificates with the connivance of the births and deaths registrar. Aadhaar cards would then be created with fictitious details, including the new name, a Valsad address and fabricated birthdate. Passport applications would be submitted with these fraudulent documents and the Valsad address. "We have been investigating this racket for two and a half months. We learned about fraudulent birth certificates being issued from our district and began an investigation. We have a list of 54 people who were issued these fake birth certificates and based on the first names we searched through people in our district," Nitesh Pandey, superintendent of police, Devbhumi Dwarka district, told TOI. "To find the masterminds, we searched through email IDs, IP addresses, sign-up details, contact numbers, MAC addresses and IMEI numbers of agents. We analysed the data found at the passport office and used technical intelligence and informers to bust the syndicate," he added. The accused were using VPNs to show points of origin in the UK, Russia, Australia and Dubai. The authorities are looking for these beneficiaries and some of them who are living in the UK will also face charges. The individuals involved face charges under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 61(2), 234, 235, 336(2), 336(3), 337, 338, and 340(2). A complaint has been filed at Jam Kalyanpur police station. Roles of the accused Hardik Ravaliya, Resident of Devbhumi Dwarka district A births and deaths registrar, he would tamper with govt records, delete riginal birth entries, create new entries with the fictitious details and create birth certificates Ashish Odedara, Resident of Porbandar: A travel agent, he would find people willing to pay to emigrate to the UK and supply their information to Pratik Tandel. Pratik Tandel, a resident of Daman: He would provide details of potential clients and their fictitious documents to Bharat Panchal, a passport agent in Valsad. Bhavesh Panchal, a resident of Valsad: He would fill in passport applications using his email and mobile number, receive the passports and supply them to Odedara. Rikesh Shah, a resident of Surat: He would get clearance of physical verification done for the fraudulent passport applications. Raide Mer, a resident of Sasan, Junagadh: He would find potential clients in Porbandar district. Pinakin Rana, a resident of Valsad: He would decide the address on the passport for each beneficiary, receiving these passports from the post office and deliver them to Bhavesh. Bhavesh Kuchadiya, a resident of Porbandar: A beneficiary who got a passport based on forged documents. Nihal Tandel, a resident of Daman: He ran a cyber cafe and helped get fraudulent Aadhaar cards issued. Modus Operandi The accused exploited the laws of Portugal granting citizenship to those born before 1961 in Daman, Diu and Goa and their descendants. Portuguese citizenship enables visa-free entry into the UK and EU countries."The accused would find youth who wanted to emigrate to the UK and lure them with the chance to get entry to the UK in exchange for sums ranging from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 35 lakh. The accused were in touch with people of Indian origin in Portugal and the UK and arranged their documents. The beneficiaries were shown (on paper) as relatives of those settled in the UK and Portugal. To create a seemingly legitimate paper trail, the syndicate fudged the state govt's birth register portal. New birth certificates were generated for the beneficiaries, altering middle and last names to match the documents of the Portuguese citizens. Corresponding Aadhaar cards were also created, reflecting the names on the fabricated birth certificates. Using these fraudulent documents, they obtained passports for the beneficiaries, with addresses in Valsad