Ahmedabad: A Surat resident was arrested at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) Airport on Friday for allegedly travelling with a fake Indian passport.

According to the complaint filed by security assistant Pramod Ithape, the accused, Prakashkumar Dave, arrived from Berlin via a Qatar Airways flight and approached the immigration counter with an Indian Emergency Certificate (No. X1022911) issued in Berlin on May 27, valid until November 26. However, Ithape found no departure record for Dave and questioned how he had left India, to which the accused replied that he had travelled from Delhi to Paris in January this year.

However, after further questioning, the accused allegedly confessed that he had bought the fake passport under the name of Rakesh Joshi through two agents, Mahesh and Dishu. He had paid ₹15 lakh for the forged passport and used it to travel to Berlin, after which he contacted the Indian Embassy there, claimed to have lost his passport, and obtained the emergency certificate.

Dave was handed over to the Airport Police. A case has been registered against him and the two agents under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including cheating by impersonation, forgery, use of forged documents, and abetment. DeshGujarat