Mumbai: B Simon carried an Indian passport and other identity documents, albeit fake, but it was his inability to communicate in Hindi that proved to be his undoing.
The Mumbai Police arrested this Myanmarese national from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Tuesday for staying in India illegally for the last six years.
Simon had used his fake Indian passport to travel abroad in the past and nobody doubted its authenticity even on Tuesday as he proceeded to board a flight to Malaysia. However, authorities had a doubt when he was undergoing immigration checks. The man did not speak or understand Hindi.
“Simon claimed that he is from Mizoram. We know that Hindi is not commonly used in that state, but not knowing the language altogether is something else. We were suspicious and started to question him,” an official said.
The man was then quizzed about Mizoram, but he failed to come up with satisfactory answers. Finally, he was handed over to the police. The 34-year-old man then confessed that his real name is U Thang Soe Iyan and he is a Myanmarese.
“He was among those who opposed the military junta in Myanmar in 2019. He was forced to flee the country during the crackdown that followed. He entered India through Mizoram and then travelled to Delhi where he got his fake documents prepared through an agent named Talib. Though he travelled extensively, he never felt it was important to learn the basics of Hindi,” the official added.
