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In the South Korean job racket case, The Esplanade court has sent two accused, Simran Teji and Ravi Kumar, into judicial custody, while the police remand of the remaining three accused, Lt. Commander Vipin Dagar, Sub Lt. Commander Braham Jyoti, and Deepak Dogra, have been extended to July 9.
According to the remand copy, Lt. Commander Vipin Dagar purchased a stamp machine and rubber stamps from Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, during his posting in the Eastern Naval Command. The police traced the payment transaction for the stamp machine to Dagar’s bank account. Also incriminating data related to the crime was found on his computer.
Advocate Ravi Jadhav stated, "My client, Vipin Dagar, is innocent and falsely implicated in this case. There is no documentary proof against him. The police denied my client's right to private consultation (between advocate and accused) and the court had to ask the investigation officer to allow specific time for consultation."
The police alleged in the remand application that accused Braham Jyoti deleted all data from his phone, destroyed the SIM card, and operated the racket using multiple mobile phones, which are yet to be recovered. The application also stated that both naval officers used the money received from clients for personal expenses.
Deepak Mehra, arrested in Jammu and Kashmir, was allegedly a visa agent in the gang facilitating visa issuance to clients.
Advocate Ajay Dube defended his client, stating, "My client, Deepak Mehra, is merely an agent and did not forge any documents or cheat anyone. This is a straightforward case under the Passport Act and does not fall under IPC Sections 420, 465, or 416. My client is innocent as he was only assisting individuals seeking to travel to South Korea."
The investigation also revealed that accused Ravi Kumar and Dagar sent threatening emails to Korean Embassy officials demanding immediate visa approval.
