The Delhi Police were alerted by the American Embassy that 31 people had submitted forged documents to obtain a visa to that country. They were to perform on October 21, 22 and 24, visa officers were told.

Vaid had approached the US Embassy last week on behalf of the group. When they found things amiss, the visa officers called all 31 of them to the embassy at 8.30 am on Wednesday. The group was grilled for a long 12 hours till 9.30 pm. Not satisfied with their answers and also the purpose of their visit, the embassy staff shot off a written complaint to the police. On the basis of that complaint, the police registered a case of forgery and cheating against the group.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Anand Mohan said, “It looks like a case of human trafficking. Their visa documents were definitely forged. We are interrogating them to find out if they were being smuggled out by an organised gang.”

Preliminary investigations suggest the group was leaving the country with the help of NRI Vaid and also another Indian in the US called Sanjay Kumar. Kumar had sent a letter to Dolly Malkit Singh inviting her to perform in States. He then asked her to get in touch with Vaid for travel formalities, an officer said. He added, “Ashwini attached the invitation letter with the forged documents when he applied for the visas. It is unlikely they were being called for any show at all,” the officer said. After interrogation, the artistes told officers they were not aware that the visa documents were fake.