Lucknow: A key accused in the Sant Kabir Nagar fake passport racket was arrested by the immigration department at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport after arriving from Dubai, following the issuance of a lookout circular (LOC) against him, police said.The accused, identified as Vijay Shukla, a resident of Imilidiha under Khalilabad Kotwali in Sant Kabir Nagar district (permanent resident of Morwan village in Kushinagar’s Ramkola police station area), had been absconding in a 2023 case involving the procurement of a passport using forged documents and false information.Police said the immigration department informed Khalilabad police via email on Jul 9 that Shukla had been detained after landing in Delhi from Dubai on the basis of the LOC. A police team comprising sub-inspector Anil Kumar Yadav and constable Durgesh Kumar subsequently reached Delhi, completed the legal formalities, and took the accused into custody on judicial transit remand.He was brought to Sant Kabir Nagar on Friday and produced before a local court, which remanded him to judicial custody and sent him to the district jail.According to police, Shukla is booked under various provisions of the Passport Act, the Prevention of Corruption Act, and sections related to cheating, forgery, preparation of forged documents and their use. Investigators allege that he secured a passport by submitting fabricated documents and false residential details and later travelled abroad using the fraudulently obtained passport.The arrest is part of the ongoing investigation into the high-profile fake passport racket unearthed in Sant Kabir Nagar. Police have so far arrested more than 21 accused.The racket came to light during an investigation ordered by the then superintendent of police, Satyajit Gupta. The probe revealed that 101 passports were verified during 2020-21 on the basis of forged documents and false residential addresses.
