Sri Lankan who got forged Canadian passport for Rs.4Mn nabbed at BIA

• Passenger claims his uncle in Switzerland arranged the forged passport 

By Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana   

A Sri Lankan national who tried to leave for Canada with a forged Canadian travel document, which had received for Rs.4 million, was nabbed by the Immigration authorities at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) last evening.  
 
The male passenger who had come to board a SriLankan Airlines flight UL217 for Doha was arrested at the emigration counter at the BIA departure terminal as the officials felt suspicious about his Canadian passport. He was to board another flight to Canada from Doha.   

A senior detective at the Department of Immigration and Emigration told the Daily Mirror last night that the passenger was referred to the department’s Border Surveillance Unit (BSU) at the BIA and found that his Canadian passport was forged.   

When they searched his belongings, the officials recovered his genuine Sri Lankan passport too.   

The 25-year-old suspect, a resident of Point Pedro in Jaffna, had reportedly collected the forged passport from a person near 18 Mile Post on the Katunayake – Colombo main road prior to his visit to the airport.   

He had told the immigration officials that his uncle living in Switzerland had arranged for a person to get a forged Canadian passport prepared for Rs.4 million.   

The passenger was subsequently handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) unit at the BIA for further inquiries.   

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