Boarding pass swap at airport lands trio in jail

Mumbai: Three Sri Lankans - one of whom holds a Danish passport - were arrested by the Sahar police from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport on Monday in an ingenious case of human trafficking.
According to police sources, 27-year-old Sivapatha Jayakant - the Sri Lankan with a Danish passport and a valid French visa - had purchased ticket to France for Sunday night.
According to plan, his fellow countryman, Rajratnam Sagaram, 30 - who holds a Sri Lankan passport - purchased a ticket to Cochin on an Air India flight that arrives from the Gulf. This flight then accommodates domestic passengers from Mumbai at the international airport. Police sources disclosed that Sivapatha and Rajratnam planned their rendezvous in such a way so that both of them would be at the airport at the same time. Sivapatha underwent the routine immigration and security check required for international flights, while, Rajratnam - since he was to take a domestic flight to Cochin - was only required to clear the security check.
The two then met in the security hold - which accommodates passengers of both, domestic as well as foreign flights - and swapped their respective boarding passes.
“Rajratnam - who carried Sivapatha’s boarding pass for a direct flight to France - had even proceeded to board the aircraft. However immigration authorities suspected something afoul and checked his travel documents. They then found that he did not have a French visa and that he was travelling on someone else’s ticket,” Sahar police sources said.
A third Sri Lankan national, V Vimal Alex, who had arrived to see the two off, was also detained.
19/01/10 Abhijit Sathe/Mumbai Mirror

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Categories: Airports Jan 2010, Foreign Jan 2010