Six passengers intercepted at Hyderabad airport with forged seafarer documents

Immigration officials at the Rajiv Gandhi International (RGI) Airport in Hyderabad intercepted six passengers over a two-month period for allegedly attempting to travel abroad using forged documents to secure jobs as seafarers in the UK, Europe, and the Middle East.

The passengers allegedly used fake Form-1 documents, which were purportedly issued by the Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping). Following the interceptions, the RGI Airport police registered four cases, which have now been transferred to the Central Crime Station (CCS) to investigate a suspected organized criminal network.

The first incident took place on May 2, when immigration officials intercepted Jashanpreet Singh, a 20-year-old farmer from Kapurthala district in Punjab, at the international departure terminal. Singh was attempting to board IndiGo flight 6E-1315 to Doha en route to Manchester in the UK. He produced a Continuous Discharge Certificate (CDC) and a Form-1, but officials found the Form-1 was forged after checking the DG Shipping portal.

On May 9, immigration officials intercepted Pankaj, 19, from Gujarat, and Harkishanbhai Bhikhubhai Tandel, 34, from Rajasthan, as they attempted to board flight XY-326 to Riyadh en route to Turkey with a forged Form-1. On May 19, Lamoria Shivraj Vijendra, 24, from Rajasthan, was intercepted while trying to board IndiGo flight 6E-1495 to Ras Al Khaimah.

The latest interception occurred on June 8, involving Deepak Chaudhary, 25, from Uttar Pradesh, and Anjali, 26, from Haryana. The duo approached the immigration counter posing as seafarers traveling to join the MV Norwing Helm shipping vessel in the UK. They were attempting to board Oman Air flight WY-236 to Muscat en route to London.

Upon checking the DG Shipping portal, officials discovered that the original Form-1 documents had been issued to Santosh Mahto and Juran Kirtaniya. The accused had allegedly replaced the original photographs with their own while retaining the original names.

According to immigration officials, all the intercepted passengers belong to northern and western states. Agents reportedly collected money from them to provide the forged Form-1 documents, while the CDCs were obtained from small island nations after the candidates completed short-term courses.

The Hyderabad Additional CP (Crimes) recently transferred two of the cases to the CCS. Officials state they will question the arrested accused to identify the agents involved and unravel the network.