In a significant crackdown, the Airport Police on Friday arrested eight passengers at Tiruchy International Airport for allegedly possessing passports obtained using forged documents. Six of the individuals were about to board flights, while the other two were detained upon arrival by immigration authorities. All eight suspects have been remanded to the Central Prison in Tiruchy until May 30.
The arrested individuals include A. Arabi Mohammed (53), K. Bose (53), K. Abdul Rahim (52), S. Ruthira Pasupathy (60) from Ramanathapuram district; M. Mariyappan (48) and N. Shakul Ahamed (55) from Tiruchy; and A. Arockiasamy (43) and S. Mohammed (54) from Pudukkottai.
Arabi Mohammed was apprehended while attempting to board a flight to Sharjah with a passport featuring altered name and address details. Bose, who had just arrived from Kuala Lumpur, was found with a passport containing a falsified date of birth and father’s name. Mariyappan and Abdul Rahim were intercepted before boarding a flight to Kuala Lumpur. Arockiasamy, who was about to fly to Singapore, had forged his name and date of birth. Ruthira, Shakul Ahamed, and Mohammed had also altered their names and addresses on their passports.
Emergency Landing in Tiruchy
In a separate incident, an Air India Express flight (AXB934) heading to Bengaluru from Thiruvananthapuram with 143 passengers on board made an emergency landing at Tiruchy International Airport on Saturday due to a technical snag. The flight departed from Thiruvananthapuram at 12:49 PM, but the pilots detected a technical issue mid-air. Consequently, the flight was diverted and safely landed at Tiruchy at 1:40 PM, according to Airport Director P. Subramani.