Seven Arrested For Trying To Travel Using Fake Documents From Delhi Airport

The Delhi Police has arrested seven passengers travelling from India to the United Kingdom, carrying fake boarding passes, RT-PCR's and other documents.

It is reported that the passengers had procured all the fake documents with the help of two Delhi based agents. They had assured the seven passengers of providing them permanent settlement in the UK.

One accused agent has been identified as Pankaj, who hails from Uttar Pradesh. Armandeep Singh, Amritpal Singh, Jagdeep Singh, Gurwinder Singh, Rahul Jangra, Deepak and Manbeer have been identified as the seven passengers, Times Of India reported.

Each Had Paid Rs 12 Lakh

The seven passengers were travelling from Delhi to London and were stopped at the boarding gate. They were carrying fake documents which they had received with the help of two Delhi agents. As per the earlier-mentioned report, they had been cleared by immigration as seamen. They had their Continuous Discharge Certificates( seafarer's identity document )approved by the Directorate General of Shipping, India and were all set to board flight no. AI-133.

The seven passengers were caught at the boarding gate with fake documents. On re-verification, their names did not appear in the travel chart of the flight.

They later revealed that they had each paid a hefty sum of Rs 12 lakh to the agents. The agents had assured them of their permanent settlement in the UK. They had planned to destroy their CDC's and seek asylum once they reached London. They were given fake boarding passes to avoid being caught at the boarding pass counter.

Later one of the agents, Pankaj, revealed to the police that he, along with two other men, had arranged all the fake documents for the passengers.

Airline Staff Under Police Radar

On January 2, the police had received a complaint from Air India's ground staff about the seven passengers trying to fly to the UK with fake documents.

The police have informed that the airline staff who might have been involved in pushing the passengers in travelling with fake documents is being investigated.

Forging Of Documents, Not A New Practice In The Country

This case is not a new one for India. Many cases of fake documents being used have been reported earlier.

In 2021, in Delhi, six accused, including five Bangladeshi nationals, were arrested with 27 fake passports. Two travel agents were caught carrying fake e-tickets at the Chandigarh International Airport in 2019, TOI reported. With e- boarding passes and self check-ins, the Bureau of Civil Aviation announced that the bar code scanners would be updated to catch any changes in the travel documents to prevent forgery.

The use of fake documents is not confined to just travel documents. Two years back, the Aurangabad Bench of the High Court had ordered a couple to deposit a fine of Rs 1.5 lakhs as they had forged their children's birth certificates to contest elections. Over 1000 people using forged caste certificates were reported in 2017 as per Business Standards reports. The NCST had decided to form a working group to study the process of issuing caste certificates to address the loopholes present in it, Economic Times reported.

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