A major passport fraud was exposed at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSIA) due to the alertness of the Immigration Department. A woman of Nepali origin, who tried to fly to Muscat (Oman) using a forged Indian passport, was intercepted by immigration officials and handed over to Sahar Police for further action. Police have booked the accused under charges of cheating and violations of the Passport Act, and an investigation is underway.
The incident took place on the evening of 21 November 2025. Immigration officer Ruchi Rupesh Dhomkar was on duty when, around 5 pm, a woman passenger approached counter number 32 to board IndiGo flight 6E-1267 to Muscat. The passenger identified herself as Kajal and produced an Indian passport showing her place of birth as Nohra, Himachal Pradesh. However, her facial features appeared distinctly Nepali, raising suspicion. She was sent to the wing in-charge for further verification, where she eventually confessed during detailed questioning that she was not Indian but a Nepali citizen.
During police interrogation, the woman revealed her real name as Kajal Lama and stated that she hailed from Nepal’s Parsa district. To execute the fraud, she crafted a well-planned strategy. She told the police that her parents had migrated from Nepal to Himachal Pradesh years ago, and using this background, she managed to obtain an Aadhaar card, PAN card and a bonafide certificate on a fake Himachal address. With these forged documents, she secured an Indian passport from the Shimla Passport Office.
A search of her mobile phone led police to crucial evidence that exposed her dual identity. The device contained details clearly indicating discrepancies between her actual Nepali identity and the fabricated Indian identity she used to obtain the passport.
Based on the immigration officer’s complaint, Sahar Police registered an FIR against Kajal Lama for misleading the Indian passport authorities, creating forged documents and attempting illegal travel. Investigators are now probing whether others were involved in facilitating the fake identity and the passport acquisition.