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Sri Lankan held in K’taka over forged govt documents: Cops
We have booked the Sri Lankan under Foreigners Act, Arms Act, and Section 420 (fraud) of the Indian Penal Code, said Srinivas Gowda, Central Crime Branch DCP
The Central Crime Branch (CCB) arrested a Sri Lankan citizen involved in the creation of fake government documents in Rachenahalli, police said on Friday.
The accused, identified as Sharan Kumar Kalidas alias Umesh Bala Ravindran (45), was residing at an apartment in the city. On May 20, the CCB police, acting on specific intelligence regarding Kalidas’s illegal activities, arrested him.
During interrogation, Kalidas initially claimed to be from Myladuthurai, Tamil Nadu. However, police said he soon confessed to his involvement in forging documents. The police seized a country-made pistol, multiple mobile phones, an Apple MacBook, a weighing machine, four driving licenses, and several debit and credit cards from his apartment.
“We have booked him under Foreigners Act, Arms Act, and Section 420 (fraud) of the Indian Penal Code,” CCB DCP Srinivas Gowda told HT. A case has been registered at the Sampigehalli police station, and the investigation is ongoing.
According to police, the accused, originally from Sri Lanka, relocated to Chennai, Tamil Nadu, in 2010, where he began his illicit business of fabricating government documents. After being arrested and deported back to Sri Lanka in 2014, he clandestinely returned to India in 2016 via smuggling routes.
Police said he initially resided on Kanakapura Road, and subsequently moved to Vijayanagar and Thanisandra, before settling in Rachenahalli in 2021 with his wife and three children.
“Following Kalidas’s arrest, his wife attempted to flee India with their three daughters. She was apprehended by security personnel at the airport when she mistakenly presented her Sri Lankan ID card instead of her Indian passport during the check. She is currently in custody, and further action is being taken,” DCP Gowda added.
