The issue of travelers attempting to fly out of Mumbai Airport using fake passports shows no signs of abating. The latest case was reported on November 8, when Sahar Police arrested a man who attempted to travel to Sharjah, UAE, using a forged passport. During immigration checks, the officer noticed discrepancies between the age mentioned on the passport and the traveler’s appearance, raising suspicion. After a stringent interrogation, the man confessed to his crime. The arrested individual has been identified as Helal Ahmed Siddiqui, a resident of Deoria, Uttar Pradesh.
According to Sahar Police officials, Siddiqui arrived at Mumbai Airport on November 7 at around 3 PM to board a flight to Sharjah. During routine document verification, immigration officials noticed discrepancies in the age recorded on his passport and his apparent age. When questioned about his age, Siddiqui could not provide a convincing answer. Upon further interrogation, he admitted that he had obtained the passport using fake documents from the Lucknow Passport Office. Reportedly, between 2010 and 2013, while working in Saudi Arabia, he had a dispute with his employer, leading to the confiscation of his passport. After being deported to India due to violent behavior, he sought the help of a broker named Ghayasuddin to obtain this forged passport to travel to Sharjah. Sahar Police have registered a case against him under BNS sections 318(4), 336(2), 336(3), 340(2), and Section 12 of the Passport Act and are continuing their investigation.
This is not the first instance of travelers attempting to fly out of Mumbai Airport on fake passports. According to police sources, there have been approximately seven similar cases in the past two weeks, including:
1. October 26: Two Bangladeshi women were arrested for attempting to travel to Dhaka on fake passports.
2. October 29: Police detained Swapnil Vilas Hari Gaonkar for trying to travel on a forged ticket.
3. October 31: Munnilal was arrested for attempting to travel to Dubai on a fake passport.
4. November 5: Lence Boniface Coutinho was arrested for trying to travel to the United States with a forged passport.
5. November 7: Bangladeshi national Putul Begum Mohammad Moklesh was detained for attempting to travel to Dhaka on a fake passport.
6. November 7: Rafalsul Hussain Ashraf Hussain Ghazi, a Bangladeshi citizen, was arrested while trying to travel to Muscat using a forged passport.
The police continue to be vigilant, monitoring all travelers at Mumbai Airport to crack down on such incidents and prevent unauthorized travel.