On Saturday, two individuals were detained in Madurai for smuggling 16.5 kg gutka, including a Sri Lankan Tamil national with an Indian Aadhaar card. The suspects have been identified as S Kasi Visavanthan (41) of Thirumangalam and S Rajesh (31) of Sri Lanka, who claims to be from Krishnapuram in Madurai on his Aadhaar card.
Anbudhasan, Sub-Inspector of Police from Madurai Subramaniapuram, was conducting a routine vehicle check near the VOC Bridge in Palanganatham. He attempted to stop two people in a speeding vehicle, who attempted to flee on seeing the police. However, They were apprehended and interrogated by police, who discovered that they were smuggled 16.5 kg Gutka from Bengaluru. The accused were identified as Kashi Viswanathan from Harvipatti and Shivraj from Sri Lanka.
Further investigation revealed that Sivaraj was from Mullaitheevu, Sri Lanka, and had illegally arrived in Rameswaram by boat from Sri Lanka. The investigation also revealed that Sivaraj obtained a driving license and Aadhar card in the name of Rajesh at a fake address in Chennai and traveled to Dubai by getting an Indian passport through Tirupathur agent Selvam.
Later, Sivaraj traveled to Sri Lanka from Dubai before returning to India to obtain a new passport after losing his previous Indian passport. He also admitted to smuggling Gutka from Bengaluru to Madurai with Kasi Vishwanathan, whom he met through an acquaintance in Dubai.
After recording their confession before a magistrate, both Kasi Viswanathan and Sivaraj were arrested and remanded in prison.
Police said,”Though Rajesh claimed he is an Indian, he was talking in Sri Lankan Tamil. His address on the Aadhaar card led us to a lawyer, who has a history of helping Lankan refugees get into the country illegally. However, the lawyer claimed he is not aware of how the Lankan national got the Aadhaar card.”
They added,”Though he later obtained a passport, he had lost it. He had approached Kasi, who also has a history of helping Lankan refugees enter the country.”
It should be noted that this is not the first time that legitimate Indian passports have been obtained using forged documents; especially Madurai has become a hub for Passport scams.
Tamil Nadu BJP President Annamalai had earlier submitted a memorandum to Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi alleging the involvement of ADGP (Intelligence), Davidson Devasirvatham, in the fake passport scam and complained that the state government has not initiated any action against him. Political commentator Savukku Shankar also laid similar charges on Davison Devasirvatham, however, no action was taken against him.
List Of Incidents Where Original Indian Passports Were Obtained With Forged Documents By Sri Lankan Tamils
In June 2019, a 41-year-old Sri Lankan named Muthuraman was apprehended at the Madurai International Airport when he tried to go to his country using an Indian passport obtained by submitting fake documents. Investigations revealed that Muthuraman had come to India 10 years ago using a Sri Lankan passport married one Vasuki in 2011 and got his name included in Vasuki’s ration card which he used to get other identity proofs and the passport.
In the same month that year, a 48-year-old Sri Lankan national named S Jeyakanthan was arrested at the Madurai International Airport after it was found that he obtained an Indian passport by forging documents to show him as an Indian. He too followed the same modus operandi of marrying an Indian woman and obtained Aadhaar card, driving license, etc which he used it for getting the Indian passport.
In March 2019, a 53-year-old Sri Lankan woman was arrested at the Trichy airport while she was boarding a plane to the island nation. She had obtained an Indian passport using fake documents. She had travelled to Sri Lanka multiple times without getting caught.
In January 2020, a 61-year-old man from Sivagangai district was arrested at the Madurai International Airport when he was trying to go to Dubai. He too had received a passport by submitting forged documents and false information.
A family of five Sri Lankan nationals were arrested in March 2022 after it was revealed that they obtained Indian passports by submitting forged documents. This family had been living in a suburb of Chennai since 2007 and had obtained Indian passport by submitting Aadhar and PAN of Indian citizens.
Kulasingham Dhileepan is a Sri Lankan Member of Parliament (MP) from Vanni belonging to the Eelam People’s Democratic Party. He is said to have fled India through a fake Indian passport issued in Madurai and a probe by Indian security agencies regarding the matter is on.
These are just a few of the many instances that shows how illegal immigrants are obtaining Indian passports by submitting fake documents which has serious implications on national security.
Most of them are Sri Lankan nationals who had come to India as refugees or on a visit visa. They use the modus operandi of marrying an Indian national to get documents and furnish them as address proof. In some cases, they go through brokers who help them in getting their address proofs through other questionable ways.
(With inputs from Hindu Tamil and NewIndianExp)
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