Two foreign travelers reportedly switched seats and boarded flights to different locations after exchanging passports at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. A police spokesman in Mumbai confirmed their arrest on Thursday. The conversation took place in an airport restroom between a German and a Sri Lankan native.
According to a PTI report, the 36-year-old German national travelled to Kathmandu while the 22-year-old Sri Lankan flew to London using his passport. The Sri Lankan traveler was apprehended upon entering the UK and was sent back to Mumbai. He informed the police during questioning that he wanted to go to the UK for a better job chance. The news source said that he disclosed his true identity to airport officials in London.
The German national who held the boarding card for the flight to Kathmandu was also detained by the authorities.
The travelers came up with the idea to exchange their boarding tickets on April 9, according to the investigation, which showed they were staying in a posh hotel close to the airport in Mumbai at the time. The information was discovered when questioning the two foreigners.
He said that the first indication of a discrepancy was when an airline attendant discovered what seemed to be a falsified departure stamp on the Sri Lankan citizen’s passport. The departure stamp number on the passport was also discovered to be different from the departure stamp number on his boarding card, the official said.
The Sahar police have charged two individuals with cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy, and they are looking into whether there were further parties engaged in the crime.
