Vadodara, Aug 24 (IANS) A complaint has been lodged at the Akota police station in Gujarat’s Vadodara against a visa consultant accused of duping five Surat residents of Rs 22.81 lakh on the pretext of arranging work permit visas for European countries, police said on Sunday.

The case was registered on the basis of a complaint by Darshil Niteshkumar Shah, a resident of Rander Asopalav Society in Surat, who alleged that he and his friends Chirag Revdiwala and Kaushik Chauhan were cheated by Naveen Gopalbhai Khandelwal of Patel Colony in Akota and his associates.

According to Shah, the trio had approached a visa consultancy named Align Overseas, located at Alkapuri in Vadodara, where they were introduced to Prashant Shah, the owner of Pacific Consultancy.

They were told that a work permit visa for European countries would cost Rs 6.5 lakh, with an initial payment of Rs 1.5 lakh.

Believing the assurances, the friends paid Rs 4.5 lakh for work permits to Lithuania, which later shifted to a promise for visas to the Czech Republic, and eventually to Singapore and Fiji.

Shah said that although they managed to travel to Singapore on student visas, they were deported due to incomplete documentation.

His friend’s Fiji visa was never processed.

In total, the group paid Rs 18.4 lakh, of which only part of the money was returned.

They still owe Rs 12.52 lakh.

The complaint further notes that Khandelwal also allegedly duped two Surat-based brothers, Mitesh Mehra and Chirag Mehra, of Rs 10.29 lakh in a similar manner.

A separate case has been filed in connection with their grievance.

Police have initiated an investigation into the allegations of cheating and fraud.

Visa fraud has surged across Gujarat in 2025, with numerous high-profile cases exposing a disturbing trend of duplicitous agents preying on hopeful emigrants.

In February, a Porbandar applicant was cheated of Rs 19.80 lakh under the false promise of a UK work visa, while in March, an Ahmedabad-based consultancy was duped of Rs 1.23 crore by a Noida firm over purported New Zealand and Australia work permits.

That same month, a Maninagar resident filed an FIR claiming he had been swindled of Rs 45 lakh by agents promising Canadian work visas.

Most recently, Gujarat’s Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested four suspects in a fake Luxembourg visa racket after uncovering forged documents and nearly Rs 37 lakh in illicit payments.

Authorities have responded by forming dedicated police units to crack down on bogus consultants operating in key areas like Ahmedabad, Mehsana, Surat and Anand.

–IANS

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