BENGALURU: Ignorance on the part of a 45-year-old woman from Andhra Pradesh led to her being held by immigration officials and sent to jail on Thursday. While her passport carried the name Vempalli Rammanamma, her Aadhaar card was updated with her new name, Desai Rama Devi, that she took on after marriage.
She had studied till Class 2 and her original name and house address in Kadapa district on her passport was taken a year ago. In her Aadhaar card, she updated her name as Desai Rama Devi, explained airport police. “Unlike the regular cases of cheating, using passports, this is a different kind of case for us, as it is her sheer ignorance that has resulted in her being booked,” he added.
Desai Rama Devi was on her way to Bahrain from KIA on September 13 when she was held by the immigration officials for having dual identities on her documents,” a police officer said. “An affidavit needs to be submitted about the new name she has taken and it needs to be updated in all her identity documents. If these changes aren’t made, it can only be treated as providing fraudulent information to the immigration department. The address was similar on both identity documents. An FIR has been registered with the airport police against her,” he explained.
It has been understood that it was her lack of awareness but the onus was now on her to prove them in court, the cop added. She had been employed in Kuwait since 2013 and had travelled a few times from India to the Gulf but had used the Chennai airport or Hyderabad airport earlier,he added.
Specifying statistics of individuals booked by airport police for carrying fake passports as well as overstaying after expiring of visa period, a police officer said, eight individuals have already been held this year, till September, including the woman nabbed on Thursday. “This includes three Bangladeshis and one Iranian,” he said.
However, only two people were held last year — an American and a Brazilian — in connection with overstaying their visas. Airport police added that the statistics provided by them only comprised of individuals who were reported to them by immigrations officials.
Harsh Vardhan Umre, Additional Commissioner of Customs, KIA, said fake passports produced by individuals really hampered and delayed investigations when they were trying to book cases against them in connection with smuggling of drugs or gold.