Suspect who tried to travel to Italy on forged visa arrested at BIA

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An individual who tried to fly to Italy using a forged visa was taken into custody at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) yesterday.

The individual had been trying to board a flight to Qatar, from where he intended to fly to Italy. He had aroused the suspicions of Immigration officials after behaving suspiciously near the immigration counters without making his way to the counters to clear immigration.

When questioned by immigration officials, the suspect had produced an Italian passport. However, he had been unable to answer questions posed to him by officials in Italian.

Further checks on his luggage had resulted in the recovery of a Sri Lankan passport. Further interrogation revealed that the suspect was a 32-year-old from Yogapuram, Mullaitivu who worked as a labourer. He had revealed that he had purchased the Italian passport through a middleman.

Immigration officials also found that the visa stamp on the Italian passport indicating entry into Sri Lanka was a forgery, while the Sri Lankan passport was genuine and belonged to the suspect.

The suspect has been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at the BIA for further investigations.

(By T.K.G. Kapila)

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