A Judicial Magistrate court in Tiruchi convicted and sentenced a Sri Lankan Tamil to undergo one year imprisonment in connection with a fake immigration seal found in his passport, The Hindu reported.

Pronouncing the verdict on Thursday, Judicial Magistrate – VI S. Saranya imposed a fine of Rs. 11,000 on the Lankan M. Hasan Mohamed (26) of Kandy district in Sri Lanka.

The offence was detected by immigration officials when Hasan Mohamed came to the Tiruchi international airport on January 9, 2012 to board a flight to Colombo.

While checking his passport, immigration officials detected that it contained fake immigration seal of Chennai international airport and detained him for inquiry. The passport contained fake exit and entry seals which were detected after the document was put under the ultra violet light. The immigration officials got it cross checked by getting in touch with their Chennai counterparts.

He was subsequently handed over to the airport police who arrested him and booked a case against him under the Passport Act and Foreigners Act.

Upon obtaining bail later, Hasan Mohamed attempted to fly to Colombo allegedly using a fake passport from Thiruvananthapuram. He was convicted for one year in the case and slapped a fine of Rs. 10,000.

Upon completion of the conviction period, Hasan Mohamed was brought to Tiruchi and lodged in the special camp in 2014 as a case was pending against him in Airport police station, prosecution sources said.
(With inputs from The Hindu)