The high commission's immigration liaison officer sent an e-mail to the Punjab Police chief June 29 complaining that the forged statements were issued by the Sector 70 branch of the United Bank of India here. The complaint was marked to Mohali Superintendent of Police (detective) Varinderpal Singh for a probe.

A first information report (FIR) has been registered under the sections of the Indian Penal Code relating to cheating and criminal conspiracy, Singh said. "The British High Commission has not provided details like names or addresses of the accused. We have sent senior police officials to Delhi to collect these details," he told IANS.