: A Nepalese man tried to fly to the United States by exchanging his boarding pass with a fellow passenger — a Tibetan refugee holding a Green card — on Sunday but his bid was foiled by airlines staff, said the police.
Cloud of suspicion
A senior Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officer at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) said the incident was reported around 10:15 p.m. During the checking of passports and boarding passes of passengers of United Airlines flight No.UA-83, a passenger by the name of Wangyal Pema was stopped.
“He was stopped due to doubts about his passport and identity. Airline staff informed the matter to the CISF and on questioning, the passenger revealed his name as Rajendra. He was, however, not carrying any identity proof to prove this claim,” said the officer.
Easy way out
It was later revealed that Rajendra has exchanged his boarding pass with one Wangyal Pema in a washroom in the security hold area.
The police said Rajendra wanted to move to the US to look for work.
On how they exchanged the passes, the officer said the ticket which Rajendra initially held was for a domestic flight to Mumbai, also operating from the international side of Terminal-3.
Both the passengers were offloaded and handed over to the immigration staff.
The men have now been booked for cheating and forgery.
Probe on
Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI) S.K. Bhatia said they were questioning the duo on whether any money was paid to Wangyal in exchange for the “help” Rajendra received.
