Man caught trying to fly to Canada using fake visa

High school drop-out had paid ₹5 lakh to a tout in Chennai

Karnataka Bengaluru 08 /03/2018 Check in Counters of Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru on Thursday. 
(Kempegowda International Airport is an international airport serving Bengaluru, the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Spread over 4,000 acres (1,600 ha), it is located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of the city near the village of Devanahalli. It is owned and operated by Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), a public–private consortium. The airport opened in May 2008 as an alternative to increased congestion at HAL Airport, the original primary commercial airport serving the city. It is named after Kempe Gowda the founder of Bangalore. Kempegowda International Airport became Karnataka's first fully solar powered airport developed by CleanMax Solar.
As of 2016, Kempegowda Airport is the third-busiest airport by passenger traffic in the country, behind the airports in Delhi, Mumbai and is the 35th-busiest airport in Asia. It handled over 22.2 million passengers with little less than 500 aircraft movements a day. The airport also handled about 314,060 tonnes (346,190 short tons) of cargo. By 2020, it is expected to handle at least 40 million passengers per year, with 45 international airlines and more than 1000 aircraft movements per day.
The airport consists of a single runway and passenger terminal, which handles both domestic and international operations. A second runway is being constructed and is expected to be operational by September 2019 while a second terminal is in the early stages of construction. In addition, there is a cargo village and three cargo terminals. The airport serves as a hub for AirAsia India, Alliance Air, Jet Airways and IndiGo and a focus city for Air India and SpiceJet )
Photo: Sampath Kumar G P

Immigration officials at Kempegowda International Airport caught a 39-year-old high school drop-out from Tamil Nadu on Tuesday who was allegedly attempting to fly to Canada using fake documents. He was trying to board a flight with a work visa for an engineering post, but had submitted fake employment certificates, said officials.

The accused, Vadivelu Giridharan, hails from Thiruvarur in Tamil Nadu. Immigration officials, while questioning him, were suspicious of his answers and cross-checked the identity card he had submitted claiming to work in a Chennai-based firm. His credentials proved to be false, following which officials took him into custody.

Vadivelu allegedly claimed that he is a high school drop-out who worked as a farmer in his hometown.

According to the police, a Chennai-based tout, Chandrashekhar, had taken ₹5 lakh from Vadivelu to create fake employment documents and an identity card showing that he had worked with a well-known heavy equipment manufacturing firm in Chennai. It was with these documents that Vadivelu secured a work visa.

Vadivelu told the police that Chandrashekar promised him a job with a good salary as an engineer in a Canadian firm. Immigration officials handed Vadivelu to the airport police who charged him under various sections of the Passport Act.

The police are seeking the help of their counterparts in Chennai to track down Chandrashekhar.

This is second such case in one week. Last Friday, immigration officials caught a 24-year-old diploma graduate from Tamil Nadu who was flying to Madrid in Spain on a fake work visa. In that case, the passenger, Satish Kumar, had submitted an ID card claiming to an employee of a leading manufacturing firm based in Ambur, Tamil Nadu and was going on an official assignment to Spain. He was carrying an authorisation letter from the host company, which was later found to be forged.