Arab News
 
SHARJAH, Jul 13: A group of three Indian counterfeiters, who forged Indian passports, UAE visit visas and DVDs, were arrested in a flat in the Nabba area of Sharjah recently.

Sharjah Police organized a special team to arrest the gang following a tip-off. The three men — P.A. Kunhi, M.K. Abdullah, and P.K. Kamber, who are all from Kerala — were allegedly selling Indian passports for 3,000 dirhams each. Police also seized a large number of fake and original passports, visit visas, pirated DVDs, machinery, printers, photocopiers and scanners.

Kunhi was arrested red-handed handing a forged passport to a client. The three men told police that they have been in the business of changing UAE visit and transit visas into work visas for quite some time, and that many Indians come to the UAE on visit visas and end up absconding and selling them their passports.

The gang would purchase the passports, which they would then be altered and sold to customers.

It is believed that the group is linked with other counterfeiters in India, including P. Nisar, an Indian who was arrested on Monday at Calicut airport with 31 fake Indian passports, 15 university certificates and fake visit visas to the UAE.

Nisar, who was about to board a Sharjah-bound plane, is from Kerala. He was carrying the forged passports and other documents wrapped in carbon paper in an apparent attempt to avoid detection.

During interrogation, Nisar claimed he was carrying the bag for friends in Dubai and that he was unaware about what was inside.

Last week, Kerala police also arrested a 28-year-old Indian man with 2 million rupees worth of counterfeit notes. Thajudheen, 28, who had flown from the UAE to Cochin via Colombo where he had received the package, was arrested at Cochin Airport. He was to hand the money to another conduit there.