By Ujwal Jalali

New Delhi, Apr 1 (IANS): A 45-year-old man was arrested by the police at Delhi Airport for allegedly cheating the Indian High Commission in London in a bid to obtain a second passport as his previous one had expired.

The incident came to light on March 30, when a passenger identified as Raj Rana arrived here from the UK via Doha.

"When the passenger approached the immigration counter to seek arrival clearance, during scrutiny of his travel documents, it was found that there was no departure records available in the UCF system about the passenger," read the FIR.

On further scrutiny of his travel documents and questioning, it was revealed that the passenger had departed on the strength of an Indian passport issued in August, 1999, which was valid up to August 2009. The more surprising part was that the said passport carried the name Vijay Kumar.

He had left the country on January 11, 2001.

In London, when his passport was about to expire in 2009, the accused person applied for another passport with a different name and managed to get it, which was issued by the Indian High Commission and was valid till August 2020.

For the new passport, the man gave his name as Raj Rana. According to the FIR, the man had "submitted fraudulent documents to impersonate authorities of the Indian High Commission in London".

As his second passport obtained fraudulently expired in August 2020, the man yet again renewed it at the Indian High Commission in London, now valid till 2030.

"It is submitted that the passenger had cheated the Indian High Commission and attempted to misguide the IGIA immigration on March 30, 2022 by presenting his fraudulently obtained documents," read the FIR.

Accordingly, the police registered a case against the accused under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code at the IGI Airport police station.