VADODARA: Panchmahal police arrested 10 persons in connection with the forged sponsorship letter case for visas of Pakistani nationals. The letters were issued by Godhra residents to Pakistani nationals – mostly relatives – to facilitate their travel to the town.

The Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Panchmahal police had been working on the case since October last year after it became wary of the increasing number of Pakistani nationals visiting Godhra. It registered an offence in November after a sponsorship letter it obtained as a sample from the Indian high commission at Islamabad turned out to be forged. Five persons were arrested earlier in the case.

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“The fresh 10 arrests are of persons who had become sponsors for the visits of Pakistani citizens. They had got the dubious documents made and sent them to Pakistan for facilitating the travel of relatives,” said Panchmahal superintendent of police Raghvendra Vatsa.

Sources in the department suspect that a majority of the around 2,000 persons who had visited Godhra from Pakistan last year could have obtained visas on dubious letters. The Panchmahal police that had earlier written to the high commission to provide it with more sponsorship letters so that these could be verified. Sources said that the photocopies of such letters were being furnished to the Panchmahal police and a large number of them were now suspected to be fake.

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Several residents from Godhra have relatives in Pakistan. The person whom they want to visit in Godhra has to provide a sponsorship letter. He has to paste his photographs on the letter and is supposed to sign it in front of a gazetted officer who also attests the letter stating that he knows the sponsor.