Dubai worker returns on fake passport

Devraj, 39, who said he was fleeing from a tyrannical employer in Dubai, was arrested at Bangalore airport for travelling on a fake passport.
u00a0u00a0 According to police, Devraj who comes from a middle-class family in J P Nagar went to Dubai as a sales representative for a private company. He got the job in 2005 through an agent in Mumbai.
The ordeal began soon after Devraj landed in Dubai. The company first took away his passport and two months later, stopped paying him.u00a0 When he asked company officials for his salary, they were rude and refused to pay him. After suffering for two years, Devraj got in touch with a tout who promised to get him a passport by substituting his photograph. Devraj had to pay Dh 500 (approximately Rs 6,500).
u00a0 But his dream of being reunited with his family was shattered when immigration officials at Bangalore International Airport checked his passport under a UV lamp and realized it was a fake.
u00a0 Airport police arrested Devraj under the Passport Act and remanded him to judicial custody.
u00a0Further verification revealed that the passport belonged to Abdul Lateef of Bantwal and had been issued at Bangalore in May 2008.
u00a0 Police say they can't afford to take the case lightly. Recalling an incident, a senior police officer said they had caught a young man travelling with a fake passport . He said he had lost his genuine passport and hence had used a fake one. However, a detailed inquiry revealed that it was the underworld that had got him a fake passport in return for criminal activities.
u00a0 Police say even if Devraj's case is genuine, he has to be arrested since he had committed a crime by impersonating Lateef.