Patel couple with fake passports deported from Abu Dhabi

AHMEDABAD: In a major lapse, officials of Bureau of Immigration (BoI) allowed a youth couple to fly out of Ahmedabad airport on fake passports, only to be deported back from Abu Dhabi on early Sunday morning. The couple was later arrested by Sardarnagar police under various sections of Passport Act.
This is the second case of travelling on illegal documents registered by Sardarnagar police this month.
According to police, Kalolbased Nimesh Patel, 29, and Deepti Patel, 28, were on their way to Canada from Ahmedabad via Abu Dhabi and London. They were carrying passports of a Hyderabad-based elderly couple on which they had put their own photos.
“This change of photos on passports remained undetected at Ahmedabad airport.When their flight reached Abu Dhabi, their passports were again checked by immigration officials. The officials found that the age of both the man and woman were recorded as 50 years on the passports, but they looked way younger. This raised suspicion,“ said V R Patel, senior police inspector, Sardarnagar.
“The Patel couple was then sent back by Abu Dhabi officials, and on the basis of complaint of BoI we registered the case. Investigation is still on,“ added the police inspector.
According to sources, the fake passports were arranged by the family of Nimesh Patel as they desperately wanted to send him to Canada in a hope of a better life. But they were unable to get visa despite several attempts. The original passports of the Hyderabad-based couple were procured through an agent, and photos were replaced. In another case registered on Saturday , 43-year-old Maya Prajapati was arrested for having travelled on fake documents. Maya had gone to US in 2002 on a visitor visa. When she returned on Saturday morning, BoI officials found that her passport did not have visa stamps of arrival in US.
“Records of passports made before 2002 are not available. After her tourist visa expired, Maya got another passport made through an agent and came back to India using the same,“ said VR Patel. Another accused named in this case, Kanu Ambalal Prajapti, is still at large.
Last week, nine passengers including four men, three women and two children were offloaded at Mumbai airport from Ahmedabad-London flight after they were found travelling without adequate documents. All the nine passengers belong to Delhi and Punjab and were travelling to El Salvador for New Year holidays.