On run from creditors in Dubai, man held with fake passport

Immigration officials at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Wednesday caught a resident of Kerala for travelling abroad on a forged passport.

Police said Vamal Kumar, resident of Kollam district in Kerala, was caught after he landed at the airport in a Qatar Airways flight early this morning.

During clearance, immigration officials found that the passport he was traveling with was a lost one and that an FIR was registered in this connection.

"Immigration officials immediately found out from their record and caught Kumar, who later confessed that the passport belonged to someone else and that he had glued his picture on it," airport sources said.

Kumar was later handed over to the Sardarnagar police station for further investigation.

Police sub-inspector R S Suvera, who is handing the case, said Kumar had gone to Dubai in 2008 and was working as land surveyor. He said Kumar is facing a police case in Dubai, where he is to repay more than Rs 20 lakh to First Gulf Bank and Barclays Bank. He had taken the money as loan.

Last year, Kumar lost his job, Suvera said, adding that last month, the Dubai police arrested him after the two banks lodged complaints against him.

He was granted bail after he assured authorities that he would pay back the amount. Instead, he approached an unidentified travel agent to get a new passport as his original passport was seized by the Dubai police. The agent gave him a passport on which he glued his picture.

Police said Kumar paid nearly Rs 1 lakh to obtain the passport.

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