“We have identified two more persons involved in the immigration racket. One is a notary and the other is an advocate, and we want to arrest them in the case. They have both filed anticipatory bail applications in court on January 10. We have submitted our say in court on January 11, citing reasons for challenging their bail applications. The matter is to be heard by the court on January 17,” a senior crime branch official involved in the investigations told Newsline.

Commenting on the roles played by the two suspects, the officer said, “The notary and advocate facilitated the illegal migration of people to the UK by preparing forged documents for them on the basis of which their visas to the UK were granted.”

On November 26, the Crime Branch busted the racket by arresting kingpin Aslam Panchal (42). So far nine persons have been arrested in the case, including two police constables from the Byculla police station — Nitin More (35) and Mahadev Londe (35)—as well as two postmen from the Mazgaon post office identified as Maruti Shinde (47) and Mohan Vichare (44).