Newindpress

Mangalore, Dec 8: ‘‘Overseas job aspirants should avoid trusting unauthorised agents blindly in order to get visa,’’ retired assistant police commissioner G A Bava warned on Friday.

He was addressing the gathering at an awareness workshop on ‘Visa frauds’ organised by the Mangalore Janajagruti Vedike and the Mangalore University College Yojana Vedike at the Ravindra Kala Bhavana.

The workshop was organised close on the heels of this newspaper’s elaborate expose on unchecked visa frauds. Bava advised overseas job aspirants to first confirm the background of an agent and details of work visa before making any payment.

He said poverty would lead one to dream of a good job in gulf countries. There were many instances of people selling property in order to obtain work visa. ‘‘Such incidences are higher in coastal Karnataka,’’ he pointed out.

Many were blissfully ignorant of the fact that they were paying eight times more than the actual fee to obtain visa. Many victims of visa fraud did not register complaints, as they did not have any proof against the agents, he informed.