Three men accused of using genuine passports of members of Sikh community in the UK to let dozens of Afghan refugees enter the country have pleaded guilty.
Daljit Kapoor, Harmanjit Kapoor and Davinder Chawla pleaded guilty before their trial was about to begin at the Inner London Crown Court on Tuesday, reports.
They pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to help asylum seekers to enter the UK illegally between May and June 2014.
Harmit Kapoor also admitted booking flights between June 8 and June 21, 2014, for the asylum seekers to get to Britain and Chawla admitted hiring a vehicle to facilitate their entry into Britain when he drove to Paris. He had been jailed for his part in an identical crime in February 2011, along with four other men.
The prosecutor termed it a “Sikh Conspiracy” and said thirty Afghan migrants had claimed asylum after they paid money to these three men to obtain documents that helped them to sneak into the country.
The prosecutor said the accused, in their early forties, managed to hoodwink the authorities because it was very difficult for the officials at the border control to distinguish between the Sikhs who are allowed to wear turbans for their passport photos and illegal immigrants.
Harmeet Kapoor Source: Daily Mail
“We say these three men are facilitators in this organisation, this organised crime, where they are using genuine British passport holder within the Sikh community,” the prosecutor said at an earlier hearing.
The court will announce the sentence later this month.
