Foreigners held for swapping boarding passes in Mumbai to fly to UK, Nepal

Mumbai Police on Monday (April 10) arrested a Sri Lankan and a German citizen after they allegedly exchanged their boarding passes at the city airport to travel to London and Kathmandu respectively, an official revealed on Thursday.

The 22-year-old Sri Lankan citizen was allegedly travelling on a fake passport. He and the 36-year-old German native allegedly exchanged their boarding passes in a toilet at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, the official explained.

The matter came to light in the UK, where an airline attendant noticed that the departure stamp on the Sri Lankan citizen’s passport appeared to have been forged, he said. The departure stamp number on the passport was also found to be different from the stamp number on his boarding pass, the official added.

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Spilling the beans

Realising that he was caught, the Sri Lankan national then revealed his original identity, following which he was deported to Mumbai on Tuesday, the police said. During inquiry, he told the police that he wanted to go to the UK for better career opportunity, the official said.

The police also nabbed the German citizen who had the Kathmandu-bound boarding pass, he said. During the duo’s interrogation, it came to light that both stayed in a plush hotel near the airport in Mumbai on April 9 and hatched the plan to swap their boarding passes, the official said.

Mumbai’s Sahar police have booked the two under sections for cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy, he said. The police are investigating if more people were involved in the crime, he added.

(With agency inputs)