Mumbai Student Alters Passport to Conceal Thailand Trip from Internship Sponsor
Mumbai Student Alters Passport to Conceal Thailand Trip from Internship Sponsor
Mumbai Police thwarted the travel plans of a 25-year-old fashion merchandising student, SS Ghatol, on Thursday at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. Ghatol was set to fly to Singapore for an internship when immigration officials discovered that several pages were missing from her passport.
Ghatol, a student from Worli, had traveled on a tourist visa for the internship organized by her institute. However, her journey came to a halt after authorities found irregularities in her passport. Reports indicate that Ghatol had deliberately removed pages to conceal a recent trip to Thailand, which took place from February 11 to 14. During that period, she had falsely claimed to be ill to avoid an exam, fearing that her real travel history might be uncovered.
Assistant Immigration Officer Sujit Patil noted that Ghatol’s attempt to avoid detection led to her passport tampering. She now faces serious charges under the Passport Act and accusations of cheating.
This incident follows a similar case involving a 33-year-old businessman from Satara, who was arrested for substituting stamped pages in his passport with blank ones. The businessman was apprehended while trying to board a flight to Bangkok, having previously visited Thailand multiple times without informing his spouse. He faces charges under section 318 (4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for fraud and relevant sections of the Indian Passport Act, 1967.
Both cases highlight the increasing vigilance of immigration authorities and underscore the legal risks associated with passport fraud.
