MADURAI: Two Sri Lankan nationals, who had acquired Indian passports using forged documents, were detained at the Madurai airport minutes before they were about to board a flight to Colombo on Thursday. They were later arrested by the Madurai rural police.
The accused, who are siblings, had settled in Vellore district. They tried their luck at the Madurai airport expecting lesser scrutiny. However, immigration officials at the airport detained them on suspicion and subjected them to grilling, during which, the duo spilled the beans.
The accused were identified as Senthuran, 39, and his younger brother Gopithan, 35, sons of Markandu from
Virupachipuram
in Vellore district. Police said they acquired Indian passports using forged documents and were planning to visit their native place in
Sri Lanka
. They were about to board a
Spice Jet
flight to Colombo on Thursday afternoon.
It was the first time they were using the passport since it was taken a couple of years ago and it drew the attention of the immigration officials. Their suspicion grew as the duo spoke in Sri Lankan Tamil accent. They were taken to a separate place for questioning, during which they revealed the details, police sources said. "When the officials questioned them, they gave contradictory information about their address. When asked for a birth certificate, they could not produce them. It came to light during the questioning that they came to India in 1991 and stayed here. Although they had a Sri Lankan passport, they did not use it. They instead acquired an Indian passport using forged documents," a police officer told TOI.
Based on a complaint from SP Suresh Kumar, a sub-inspector from immigration department, a case was registered at the
Perungudi Police Station
under various sections of IPC along with the Passport Act and the
Foreigner
Act. They were remanded before a judicial magistrate to be shifted to the
Puzhal Central Prison
in Chennai in order to enable the embassy officials to question them.
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