Delhi Police have arrested a 29-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh for allegedly helping two Punjabi youngsters procure fake Schengen visas to travel illegally to Sweden via Rome, an officer said on Saturday.

Abhinesh Saxena was detained for delivering forged passports to two passengers who were intercepted at the airport while attempting to board a flight to Rome via Doha, he said.

The two passengers had come into contact with an agent named Lalli through a relative who allegedly demanded ₹31 lakh for arranging their travel documents and tickets.

Acting on his directions, Abhinesh delivered the fake documents at a hotel in Delhi’s Mahipalpur before the two were scheduled to depart. The passengers were identified as Taranveer Singh, 18, and Gagandeep Singh, 20, both natives of Punjab’s Hoshiarpur, the officer said. On the intervening night of April 21-22, they were at the immigration desk for clearance at IGI Airport where they were detained.

“During scrutiny, immigration officers found that the Schengen visas affixed to their Indian passports were counterfeit,” Additional Commissioner of Police (IGI) Usha Rangnani said.

Both were arrested and booked under sections of the BNS and the Passport Act, he said.

During interrogation, the two told police that they were cousins and trying to reach Sweden to join their relatives, who had migrated earlier in search of better economic opportunities.

After several raids in Punjab to trace Lalli failed, technical surveillance helped locate Saxena, who was arrested from a hideout in Delhi.

“During questioning, Saxena confessed to his involvement and revealed that he had been working with Lalli since 2022. He admitted to arranging fake visas and travel documents for people wishing to migrate abroad illegally,” the officer said.

Efforts are on to arrest Lalli and identify others involved in the network.