Mumbai: The two Navy officers arrested in an alleged visa smuggling case were the "kingpins" of the crime, police told a court here on Friday while seeking an extension of their remand.
The trial court extended the police custody of Lieutenant Commander Vipin Dagar and Sub Lieutenant Braham Jyoti till July 9.
They were allegedly part of a syndicate that helped obtain visas for Indians seeking to work illegally in South Korea, the city police's crime section said.
Besides the two Navy officers, Simran Teji, Ravi Kumar and Deepak Mehra alias Dogra are the other accused arrested in the case.
The five were produced before additional chief metropolitan magistrate Vinod Patil after he terminated their earlier custody.
While seeking an extension of the police remand, the police told the court that the two naval personnel were the ringleaders of the racket.
Dagar and Jyoti bought a stamp-making machine in Visakhapatnam when they were posted there and used it to forge documents required for visa applications, they said.
The defendants had also sent people to countries other than South Korea using forged documents, according to the remand statement, adding that this was clear from the entry of money into their bank accounts.
The police wanted their custody for another four days for confronting them with each other, he said.
Advocate Ravi Jadhav, appearing for Dagar, opposed further police detention for him, arguing that he had been falsely implicated and there was no documentary evidence against him.
Jyoti's lawyer Rohan Sonawane said the police had enough time to interrogate him as he was in custody for five days.
Police have already confiscated a mobile phone, two SIM cards, pen drives, several debit cards and other documents, and custody of him was not necessary for further investigation, the lawyer said.
Lawyer Ajay Dubey, appearing for Mehra, said he was just an agent sending passports and did not play any role in the visa fraud.
The court, after hearing both sides, extended the police custody of Dagar, Jyoti and Mehra till July 9, while Teji and Kumar were sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
According to police, the gang managed to send at least eight people to South Korea over the last year, but two of them were sent back to India.
The trial court extended the police custody of Lieutenant Commander Vipin Dagar and Sub Lieutenant Braham Jyoti till July 9.
They were allegedly part of a syndicate that helped obtain visas for Indians seeking to work illegally in South Korea, the city police's crime section said.
Besides the two Navy officers, Simran Teji, Ravi Kumar and Deepak Mehra alias Dogra are the other accused arrested in the case.
The five were produced before additional chief metropolitan magistrate Vinod Patil after he terminated their earlier custody.
While seeking an extension of the police remand, the police told the court that the two naval personnel were the ringleaders of the racket.
Dagar and Jyoti bought a stamp-making machine in Visakhapatnam when they were posted there and used it to forge documents required for visa applications, they said.
The defendants had also sent people to countries other than South Korea using forged documents, according to the remand statement, adding that this was clear from the entry of money into their bank accounts.
The police wanted their custody for another four days for confronting them with each other, he said.
Advocate Ravi Jadhav, appearing for Dagar, opposed further police detention for him, arguing that he had been falsely implicated and there was no documentary evidence against him.
Jyoti's lawyer Rohan Sonawane said the police had enough time to interrogate him as he was in custody for five days.
Police have already confiscated a mobile phone, two SIM cards, pen drives, several debit cards and other documents, and custody of him was not necessary for further investigation, the lawyer said.
Lawyer Ajay Dubey, appearing for Mehra, said he was just an agent sending passports and did not play any role in the visa fraud.
The court, after hearing both sides, extended the police custody of Dagar, Jyoti and Mehra till July 9, while Teji and Kumar were sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
According to police, the gang managed to send at least eight people to South Korea over the last year, but two of them were sent back to India.
