MUMBAI: The office of the Protector of Emigrants (PoE) and the Crime Branch, in a joint operation on Wednesday, sealed nine entities in the Nagpada area for allegedly running illegal overseas recruitment operations and arrested two persons.According to officials, several agencies in the locality were promising foreign jobs and collecting money from aspirants despite not possessing the mandatory registration or licence required under the Emigration Act, 1983. These unauthorised operators were allegedly defrauding citizens by offering overseas employment through illegal means. Officials said the team recovered 238 Indian passports belonging to prospective emigrants and several other documents, including employment offer letters, logbooks, fake visiting cards, and rubber stamps, used to process foreign employment through fraudulent channels. A press release issued by the PoE has advised aspirants to verify details of authorised agents and emigration procedures on https://emigrate.gov.in.Later in the day on Wednesday, the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate of the 37th Court, Esplanade, Vinod Patil, released the two accused. “The offence is related to cheating. However, the FIR does not disclose the name of the victim whom the accused cheated. It is not the case of the prosecution that the police station concern ed has received the complaint regarding the cheating. If the act of cheating has been done by the accused, for that purpose, the investigating officer has to conduct a preliminary inquiry in that regard. However, he has not done so,'” the magistrate observed.The magistrate, quoting a Supreme Court judgment, said it is mandatory for the investigating agency to do a preliminary inquiry. “The arrest of the accused is not essential for investigation purposes. The arrest has been made in an arbitrary manner.”
