Mehsana Man Deported from US Held at Delhi Airport Over Fake Indian Passport

Ahmedabad: In yet another such case, a 51-year-old man from Mehsana was arrested at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport after being deported by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for allegedly travelling on a forged passport.

According to immigration authorities, the man was allowed to enter India on the basis of an emergency certificate issued by the Indian Embassy in Washington. However, officials alleged that he was carrying and had travelled on a fraudulently obtained Indian passport that belonged to another person.

The complaint states that the man had left India in March 2011 on his original passport and never returned. He arrived in Delhi earlier this year following his deportation from the US.

During immigration checks, officials reportedly found several irregularities in the passport, including anomalies in the biodata page, passport number font and ghost image. Verification of government records revealed that the passport number was actually issued to another Indian citizen and had already been reported lost.

Investigators further found that the passport in the deportee’s possession had been issued in Ahmedabad in 2018, even though official records showed he had not re-entered India after leaving in 2011. A forensic examination also detected discrepancies in key security features, including the ultraviolet security thread and guilloche patterns, leading officials to conclude that the passport was counterfeit.

Based on the findings, Delhi Police registered an FIR under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for cheating, forgery and using forged documents, along with Section 12 of the Passport Act. DeshGujarat