The Sahar police in India arrested eight foreign nationals, four each from Sri Lanka and the UK, for passport forgery and impersonation.
Immigration officials caught the eight, including two women, from boarding gates at the international and domestic sections of Terminal, Times of India reported.
After questioning them for four days, immigration officials learnt that the UK nationals, aged 27-56, had joined the human trafficking ring to help the Lankans reach London. Apparently, entering the UK and working there using a Lankan passport is tough, said police sources, and so the four Lankans had opted for forged Indian passports.
The Lankans had reached the boarding gate of their Mumbai-London flight skipping immigration. The police suspect an airport insider’s hand. Two agents who facilitated the deal, one from Mumbai and the other a Lankan, are wanted.
The police say this could be the tip of the iceberg and perhaps a big racket is going on via the city airport whereby foreigners are offered tour packages and called to India so that their identities could be used to help others to fly overseas.
-Agencies
