Surat man held at Ahmedabad airport for travelling on fake passport

Ahmedabad: A Surat resident was arrested at the Ahmedabad airport on Friday for allegedly travelling on a fraudulently obtained Indian passport. Pramod Ithape, security assistant at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport registered a complaint against Prakashkumar Dave , a resident of Punagam in Surat. Ithape stated that on Friday, Dave, holding Indian Emergency Certificate No. X1022911 approached for immigration clearance after arriving from Berlin via Qatar on a Qatar Airways flight. The certificate had been issued in Berlin on May 27 this year and was valid until Nov 26.

Ithape found no departure details against Dave's passport. When asked how he had departed from India, Dave allegedly told him that he had travelled to Paris from Delhi in Jan this year.

The complainant stated that on further inquiry, Dave confessed that he had fraudulently obtained an Indian passport in the name of Rakesh Joshi, a Mumbai resident, allegedly with the help of two agents, whom he named as Mahesh and Dishu. He reportedly admitted to have travelled to Berlin on the fake passport for which he had paid the agents Rs 15 lakh. In Berlin, he had approached the Indian Embassy for the emergency certificate, claiming the loss of his original passport.

Dave has been handed over to Airport police who have registered a case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 319(2) (cheating by impersonation), 336(2) (forgery), 336(3) (forgery, intending that the document or electronic record forged shall be used for the purpose of cheating), 338 (forgery of valuable security, will), 340(2) (forged document or electronic record and using it as genuine), and 54 (abettor present when offence is committed) against him and the agents.