An individual was detained by immigration officials at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) this afternoon when he tried to board a flight to Italy with a woman using his wife's passport.
The incident unfolded as the man, accompanied by his five-year-old son and a 29-year-old woman from Kankesanthurai, assumed to be his spouse, arrived to board Air Arabia flight G9509 departing from Katunayake Airport at 1:45 p.m.
Upon reaching the immigration window for document clearance, concerns arose about the authenticity of their documents. Subsequently, the family was referred to the Border Inspection Unit for further investigation. Through technical tests and preliminary inquiries, it was revealed that, while the child was indeed the man's, the woman he was traveling with was not his wife or a family member but an unrelated individual.
During the investigation, it emerged that the man had acquired his wife's passport in Italy a few weeks before arriving in Sri Lanka, falsified the Katunayake Airport immigration stamp, and used it for his journey. Furthermore, it was discovered that the same passport had been employed previously to transport another woman to Italy.
Immigration officials have transferred the man, the woman, and the child to the Criminal Investigation Department at Katunayake Airport for further examination.
