Immigration error let Haywood slip out

It is believed that an error by the immigration officer in feeding the US national’s details into the computer may have been responsible for the goof-up, reports Aloke Tikku. Special Coverage

A slip-up by a Bureau of Immigration official at the Delhi airport allowed Kenneth Haywood to fly out of the country, despite a Look Out notice.

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“It was a human error… Action has been taken against the official concerned,” a Bureau source said.

This is the second time in less than three months that the Bureau has tripped, forcing red-faced officials at the Home Ministry to run for cover.

In May, an overzealous immigration officer at Delhi airport had dug out an old Look Out circular to deny entry into India to human rights campaigner and former Pakistani minister Ansar Burney.

An embarrassed Home Ministry had suggested that the old Look Out circular would not have come in the way if they had adequate advance information about Burney’s arrival.

But the ministry also transferred the official concerned and said the inconvenience to Burney was “unfortunate and regrettable”.

In Kenneth’s case, the ministry still seemed to be looking for answers. “We are making enquiries into the matter,” a ministry spokesman said.

Sources, however, suggested an error by the immigration officer in feeding Haywood’s details into the computer could have been responsible for the goof-up.

It is possible that due to the typographical error, the computer linked to a database of people who should not be allowed to leave the country, did not link Haywood to the lookout circular issued by the Anti-Terror Squad of Mumbai Police.

Sources expect the report of the sequence of events that led to the goof-up to be on the home secretary’s table by Wednesday.

An official said the immigration officer concerned had been suspended; there was, however, no confirmation on this count.

With inputs from Sidhartha Roy