'Fake passport to evade law': US asylum gamble blew gangster Bhau’s cover

Gangsters Himanshu Bhau (In black) and Neeraj Faridpuria in custody in US

NEW DELHI: A gamble to secure asylum in North America may have blown the cover of gangster Himanshu Bhau, one of north India’s notorious fugitives.A day after TOI reported his detention in Nevada, sources said a brief, staged detention in Feb by Bhau and his aide Neeraj Faridpuria, designed to exploit legal loopholes and claim asylum, backfired and unravelled the plan.The two face more than 25 criminal cases each across Delhi, Haryana and Punjab, including murder. Once the duo deliberately surrendered to immigration authorities to initiate asylum petitions, their biometrics and details were fed into US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tracking system, which set off red flags.

Favourite route

‘Bhau used fake passport to evade global law’Sources said fugitives from India were aggressively seeking this modus operandi. Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother, Anmol, too had tried it but was busted.Currently lodged at the Henderson Detention Center under the jurisdiction of ICE, Bhau, sources said, used a forged passport under the alias Himanshu Singroha and evaded global law enforcement for over four years.

Most-wanted gangster

However, his calculated scheme to get himself deliberately detained along with his chief associate, Neeraj Faridpuria, who also was using a fake passport under the name Neeraj Kaushik, triggered their detention.

Once the duo deliberat-ely surrendered to immigration authorities to initiate asylum petitions, their biometrics and personal details were fed into the ICE track-ing system. Picking up critical leads from this database entry, Indian law enforcement agencies and US security counterparts dug deeper into the background of “Himanshu Singroha”.Through cross-verification with local intelligen-ce sources, police contacts, and diplomatic counterparts, authorities confirmed that the individual in custody was indeed the high-profile fu­gitive Himanshu Bhau, a source said.The details on the ICE portal, accessed by TOI, corroborate the details, including the fake name on the passport. Investigations further revealed Faridpuria also shifted his base from Portugal to the US in late 2025 before reuniting with Bhau.The cops shared a dossier, including a photograph showing Faridpuria with guns and their other biometric details, which confirmed they were using forged documents. They were formally detained and information was shared with Indian agencies.The two are linked to the 2024 murder in South Delhi’s Aya Nagar in which over 70 bullets were fired, another recent connected killing, the 2019 murder of Congress leader Vikas Chaudhary in Faridabad, and a shooting outside YouTuber Elvish Yadav’s residence.

Following confirmation of their detention in a Nevada prison, Indian agencies are working with US auth­orities to expedite their deportation. A special team is likely to be dispatched to expedite deportation.