Thimphu police arrested a 35-year-old man on June 4 for forging a document to process the United States visa for five people including himself.

Police registered the case on May 25 based on a complaint from National Commission for Women and Children (NCWC).

A police official said that according to the complaint, the suspect from Lhuentse signed a contract with NCWC to work with the organisation as a project manager for two years starting July 2017.

However, he voluntarily resigned in January this year.

The suspect applied for US visa for four women and himself at the US embassy in New Delhi in India last month with a forged letter using the NCWC’s letter head stating that five of them will be attending a symposium on gender in US on June 6 and 7.

The police official said that the suspect had signed the letter in the name of a former employee of NCWC who is now transferred to other organisation.

The case came to light when the officials from the US embassy in New Delhi tried to verify the information with the NCWC.

The NCWC then called the suspect. He confessed to the crime.

Police official said that since it is a criminal case, the case was registered with the police. He was arrested after the preliminary investigation and is on bail since June 11.

“One of the women got a letter asking if she is interested to attend a symposium on gender in the US. She might have sought his help to process her visa since he worked in NCWC,” the official said. “We are investigating if the four women are also involved in the forgery.”

Dechen Tshomo