Ranip resident arrested for travelling to US on fake Passport

AHMEDABAD: The Airport police have arrested Jitendra Patel, a resident of Ranip, who had traveled to the United States on a fake passport. He was caught by the immigration officer when he landed at the Ahmedabad Airport from Doha.
A complaint was registered by Rakesh Pandey, the immigration officer at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, under IPC 465 (forgery), 467 (forgery for valuable security, will), 471 (using forged documents as genuine), and 468 (punishment), 120(B) (criminal conspiracy).
Pandey, in his complaint, stated that at about 2 am on Friday, Patel, a resident of New Ranip, arrived from Doha. He was holding passport N4391683 issued from Ahmedabad. Patel had arrived from the USA via Doha, Qatar, by Qatar Airways flight and he approached Pandey for immigration clearance.
Pandey stated that since there was no departure immigration stamp affixed on his passport, the counter officer asked him about his previous departure details. Patel then, during interrogation, confessed that he had traveled to New York on an impersonated passport after pasting his own photo on someone else’s passport. He left the country in 2021-22 from Mumbai airport. He informed Pandey that he had obtained the passport with the help of one Jagga, a Kalol-based agent. Patel claimed that he had paid Rs 50 lakh to the agent against a deal of Rs 60 lakh which was finalized.
Patel further said that after reaching New York, the impersonated passport was taken by an associate of the agent who was waiting outside the airport, and his original passport was also handed over to him. The Kalol agent had also arranged a job for Patel in Georgia, USA. He further revealed that he worked at a parlour for only one and a half months and was being paid 4000 dollars per month.
The complainant, Pandey, stated that prima facie, “it appears that he had traveled abroad on an impersonated passport and thus had adopted fraudulent means to depart from India. Additionally, his departure details could not be confirmed from Mumbai. He was then arrested and handed over to Airport police for further investigation.