22 April,2011 11:05 AM IST | | Mohit Sharma
The accused allegedly used fake documents to procure their visas
They had dreams of meeting their son in the US. Instead they ended up in jail. 61-year-old Shakti Prashad Shrestha and his 57-year-old wife Bimla Shrestha were arrested by the New Delhi district police for allegedly forging their birthdates to procure a visa.
On April 19, the Chanakayapuri police station received a complaint from the US embassy (assistant regional security officer, Annem Brumm) against the couple alleging that they have used forged documents to procure the visa.
Broke in business
The FIR which has been registered against the couple states that the accused confessed to applying for a visa from Nepal previously with a different date of birth. During an interview with consular employees at the embassy, Bimala Shrestha confessed that she and her husband were Nepalese citizens who applied previously in Nepal for visas and who moved to India after her husband's business ran into losses. She added that they owed investors money after their partner ran away with their funds.
"Shakti Prashad too confirmed to the consulate that he had applied previously in Nepal under his name with a different date of birth. He also said they he didn't want to go to Nepal and that he was now living in India," the FIR says.
The police said that when he was asked the reason why he couldn't get his Nepalese passport renewed, he confirmed that he could not get a Police Clearance Certificate from Nepal. However, he remained tightlipped on any case pending against him in court. He said that he had used his PAN card, election card and bank account information to get his passport in India. He procured that with the help of a man, named Ram Lal, a resident of Rohini. "We suspect that they procured the documents by forged means in connivance with Ram Lal," cops said.
Busted
The modus operandi they used was interesting as they didn't have a single government document from India as they are Nepalese nationals. "They got a rent agreement from the owner of the flat they were staying in and from that they arranged their voter-ID, driving licence and other documents. They then tried to forge their date of births to match a condition of the visa application and they were caught by the US embassy," senior police officers said.
Cops said that as they didn't have any source of income in India, they were receiving money from their in the US, who had asked them to visit him. It was for this reason that they had applied for visa. A case under sections 420, 468, 471 and 120 (b) of IPC and section 12 of the Indian Passport Act has been filed against the couple.
Whatu00a0the US embassy says
The US Government believes that the action of Shakti Prasad Shrestha and Bimala Shrestha and other unidentified conspirators also constitute violations of US law, specifically Title 18 of the United States code, Section 1546 and section 371 and Title 8 of the United States code, Section 1324.
