Two foreign nationals arrested in Chennai for fake passports

A Bangladeshi man and a Sri Lankan woman were arrested in Chennai after they allegedly attempted to travel abroad using Indian passports obtained through forged documents. The arrests followed a complaint lodged by officials of the Foreigner Registration Zone at the Chennai International Airport with the Fake Passport Investigation Unit of the Central Crime Branch.
According to the complaint, Shimul Das (32), a Bangladeshi national, tried to secure an Indian passport using fake documents to travel to Malaysia. Similarly, Valantia Beatrice (24), a Sri Lankan national, attempted to use an Indian passport obtained with forged documents to travel to Sri Lanka.
Police investigations revealed that Shimul Das had entered India from Bangladesh in 2017 on a tourist visa.
Over time, he allegedly acquired Indian identity documents, including Aadhaar and voter ID card, and through them managed to obtain an Indian
passport.
He was intercepted when he attempted to travel to Malaysia using the fraudulent passport.
In the case of Valantia Beatrice, inquiries found that her parents had arrived in India from Sri Lanka on a tourist visa in 1984. She was later born in Ooty. The family reportedly acquired Indian identity documents, enabling her to apply for an Indian passport. Using this, she attempted to travel to Sri Lanka before being c
aught.
Both individuals were arrested and remanded to judicial custody. Police have begun further investigations to trace how the forged documents were acquired and whether a larger network is involved.