• The man had brought his wife’s passport from Italy a few weeks prior to  his arrival in Sri Lanka, falsified the Katunayake Airport immigration  stamp, and kept it for his use

By T.K.G. Kapila   

A man was apprehended by immigration officials at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) yesterday when he attempted to board a flight to Italy with a woman using his wife’s passport.   

The incident unfolded when the man, accompanied by his five-year-old son and a 29-year-old woman from Kankesanthurai, presumed to be his spouse, arrived to board Air Arabia flight G9509 from Katunayake Airport at 1:45 p.m.   

Upon arrival, the family approached the immigration window to facilitate their document clearance, where doubts began to arise about
their authenticity.   

As a result, the trio was referred to the officers of the Border Inspection Unit for further investigation. Through technical tests and preliminary inquiries, it was discovered that although the child belonged to the man, the woman he was travelling with was not his wife or a member of the family but an unrelated individual.   

During the investigations, it came to light that the man had brought his wife’s passport from Italy a few weeks prior to his arrival in Sri Lanka, falsified the Katunayake Airport immigration stamp, and kept it for his use. Furthermore, it was revealed that the same passport had been used on a previous occasion to take another woman to Italy.

   
The immigration officials have handed over the man, the woman, and the child to the Criminal Investigation Department at Katunayake Airport for
further scrutiny. 

•  The same passport had been used on a previous occasion to take another woman to Italy