A 40-year-old Nepali citizen who had been living illegally in India for 40 years was intercepted on May 2 at Mumbai airport while attempting to travel to Rome on an Indian passport obtained fraudulently. An immigration officer filed a complaint with the Sahar police, and a case was registered the same day.
According to the FIR, at 2am, Vipin Basnet approached the immigration counter to board IndiGo flight 6E-1303 to Doha at 4.20am, with plans to travel onward to Rome. During passport verification, the officer noted frequent travel to Nepal and that his appearance and surname resembled those typically found in Nepal.
This raised suspicion, prompting an inquiry. Basnet claimed his parents migrated from Nepal to India in 1976 and that he was born and educated in India. However, checks on his mobile phone revealed photos of Nepali citizenship documents belonging to him and his father, along with his Nepali marriage certificate and his daughter’s birth certificate.
Basnet had acquired an Indian passport in 2005 using a birth certificate and had renewed it twice. Since 2024, he had been working as a seaman and was now trying to go to Rome for similar employment. He currently resides in Kandivali East, Mumbai.
Immigration officer Vishal Gautam, 27, filed the complaint. Basnet has been booked under Section 12 of the Passport Act, and Sections 318(4) (cheating), 336(2), 336(3) (forgery), and 340(2) (use of forged documents or electronic records as genuine) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Further investigation is underway.
