Authorisation letters may be required with Nepalese passport

Passengers holding Nepalese passport might now have to carry authorisation letter from the Nepalese embassy to prove that their passport is genuine, if they are travelling through Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA).

Passengers holding Nepalese passport might now have to carry authorisation letter from the Nepalese embassy to prove that their passport is genuine, if they are travelling through Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA).

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The arrest of five girls with fake Nepalese passport from Delhi airport on Sunday has prompted Delhi Police to ask Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to take necessary action to stop trafficking of Nepalese girls to gulf countries through India.

Sources in Delhi Police said that agents are now using India as transit point by sending girls to gulf countries on fake Nepalese passport.

"We have written to FRRO to take up the matter with Nepalese embassy. What we want is that a Nepalese passport holder should carry a letter from its embassy which confirms that his/her passport is genuine. The human trafficking gangs are now using this new route to send girls to gulf countries," said a senior police officer requesting anonymity said.

On Sunday night, Delhi Police have arrested five girls, all aged between 20-25, who were trying to travel to Jeddah on fake passports. The girls were scheduled to travel with AI 991.

"During interrogation they revealed that they had given R80,000 to agents who arranged passport for them. The photographs pasted on bio-data page was replaced with original ones," the officer added.

The girls were travelling on employment visas. "Earlier, agents used to give them fake Indian passports which are easy to check. But these days the agents arranged fake Nepalese passports and instead of sending them from Nepal, they send the girls from India to escape arrest," the officer further said.

Police said the trafficking of girls holding Indian passport was quite common till a decade ago but from past few years cases had reduced due to stricter check by immigration authorities.