Two brothers arrested for entering airport using forged tickets

Two men arrested at Mumbai airport for using forged tickets to drop off sister traveling to Doha; booked for cheating and forgery.

MUMBAI: Two young men who entered the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) on Sunday using forged tickets to drop off their sister were arrested by the Sahar police. The men, identified as Faisal Balwa, 34, and Faijan Balwa, 27, wanted to ensure their sister was safe as she was taking a flight for the first time to travel to Doha. They were detained by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel stationed at the departure gate based on suspicion and placed under arrest by police after being questioned and booked for cheating and forgery, said police.

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According to the police, the complainant, Vijay Urav, an officer with the CISF, was posted at CSMIA departure gate number three at around 3pm on Sunday when the two men approached the gate, saying they wanted to leave the airport. Though the men had tickets showing they were slated to travel from Mumbai to Doha on a Vistara Airlines flight, they could not account for why they had decided not to board the flight at the eleventh hour; nor were they accompanied by airline staff who usually dropped passengers who opted out of flights till the departure gate.

“The complainant found the situation suspicious and inquired with the staff of Vistara Airlines, who told him the tickets furnished by the duo were not present in their database. He then informed his seniors,” said an officer from Sahar police station. The CISF security in-charge, MK Mishra, reached the spot and questioned the duo; he also spoke to the deputy manager of Vistara Airlines who confirmed that the men were not listed among passengers on their flight to Doha, the officer added.

“When the men were interrogated about their motive behind entering the airport using forged tickets, they told the CISF officers that their sister Sunesara Maria Rashid was scheduled to fly to Doha (Qatar). Since she was taking a flight for the first time and had a lot of luggage, they wanted to make sure that she did not face any hassles. So, they used forged tickets to enter the airport via gate number four and drop her till the security clearance area,” said the police officer.

The duo was booked under sections 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and placed under arrest, said police.