CHENNAI: Fake Israeli passports recovered from an Iranian couple sparked concern among the intelligence agencies as well as immigration officials in Chennai Airport.
The couple was detained and later arrested before they could board a British Airways flight early Thursday They had entered airport after boarding a domestic flight from Goa, Airport police said. Trouble arose after immigration officials detected fake Israeli passports from the duo. “They had original Iranian passports, but they also had Israeli passports, which resulted in their detention in the airport,” police said.
This resulted in intense scrutiny of their passports as well as quizzing by intelligence agencies and ‘Q’ Branch officials. The woman was living in Pune for last 10 years, while the man was working in Goa. Cupid struck, they got married, and had plans to settle in the US. And they worked out a plan to forge Israeli passports which could be handy in getting into United States. The passport was forged in Goa, said Airport police sources.
Gold Stolen
Around 17 sovereigns of gold was robbed from a couple in the Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) train on Thursday evening near Tambaram.
Police said, Manoharan and his wife from Secunderabad had been to Tiruvannamalai via Chennai to attend a marriage. “On Thursday, they had attended the function and were to catch a train from Chennai Central at 6 pm, for which they boarded an EMU train from Perungalathur to Park,” said a police officer.
“They got into the EMU train in the afternoon, and Manoharan’s wife had removed all her jewellery and left it inside her handbag. As the train neared Tambaram, the couple found the jewellery missing from the handbag with a slit made by a blade on the bag,” he said.
In another incident, around `4 lakh cash and 10 sovereign gold jewellery were stolen from a locked house in Parry’s.
Police said, Shanthilal Jain, of Govindappa Naicken Street, had gone to Bangalore with his family to attend a wedding. On return, they found the locks of the door tampered with and the cash and gold missing from the locker of the almirah.
Four Bikes Gutted
Four bikes were gutted in fire after an LPG gas cylinder burst due to a short circuit at a house in Rajakilpakkam early Friday. However, no casualty was reported.
Police said, Jagadesh Yesuraj, his parents and sister along with two workers of his shop were staying in a house on Seventh Cross Street, Rajakilpakkam. Around 1 am, he found his house engulfed in smoke and immediately woke up the others and rushed out of the house. “As soon as they came out, the LPG cylinder in the house burst due to the short circuit in the air-conditioner that had caused the fire. Four bikes parked in front of the house caught fire. Three fire tenders were pressed into action to douse the fire.