Two youths attempting to flee to Italy with forged passports caught at BIA

By T.K.G. Kapila

Katunayaka, June 26 (Daily Mirror) - Two Sri Lankan youths attempting to travel to Italy using forged Indian passports were arrested by the Immigration and Emigration Border Surveillance Unit officials at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) last night.

The suspects, aged 21 and 28 years, are Tamil youths from Jaffna. They had arrived at the Katunayake Airport to board Etihad Airways flight EY-397, scheduled to depart for Abu Dhabi at 9.45 p.m. on June 25.

According to airport sources, while the suspects were waiting in the passenger terminal, officers from the Immigration and Emigration Department noticed their suspicious behaviour. They were summoned for questioning, and a subsequent search of their luggage uncovered two forged Indian passports and two fake Italian visas.

Technical checks conducted by officials of the Border Surveillance Unit later confirmed that all the travel documents were forged.

Further investigations are being carried out by the Immigration and Emigration Department.