Chandigarh, Apr 28 (IANS): The Punjab Police's Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) has arrested three people involved in procuring and providing passports on fake particulars to gangsters and criminals to facilitate their escape from the country, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said here on Friday.

The arrested have been identified as Onkar Singh, Sukhjinder Singh, and Prabhjot Singh of Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh.

The police have seized at least nine passports, besides recovering several photocopies of passports of absconding gangsters prepared using fake particulars.

DGP Yadav said acting on tip-off about the involvement of an interstate travel agents in preparing passports using fake particulars, AGTF teams, headed by ADGP Promod Ban and assisted by AIG Sandeep Goel, in an overnight operation busted the gang.

"Investigations reveal that the gang, having links in states, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat and Maharashtra, had facilitated a number of gangsters and criminals and other states to flee from the country on fake passports," he said.

The DGP said five more persons linked with the gang rounded up and investigations are on to unearth the entire network.

During the preliminary interrogation, accused Prabhjot Singh has revealed that one of his conduits, Charanjit Singh, who has been arrested by Delhi Police, had made a passport using fake particulars for gangster Deepak Boxer, who was recently deported from Mexico.

Another accused Sukhjinder Singh disclosed to have procured a passport on fake particulars for Deepinder Singh, alias Deepu, of Ajnala, who has a criminal background and is an associate of absconding gangster Harry Chatha.