Pune: An eatery owner from Mohannagar in Chinchwad was arrested by the Airport police afterhe entered the city airport’s departure terminal using a bogus ticket of an airline early on Saturday. “We arrested Saleem Golekhan (27) on charges of cheating and forgery after he was detained by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel at the departure terminal. He was with his father, boarding a flight to Lucknow,” senior inspector Ajay Sankeshwari of the Airport police told TOI on Monday.
He said, “The ticket with Golekhan’s father’s was found to be genuine and he was allowed to travel ahead.” Sankeshwari further said, “Golekhan told us during questioning that he wanted to see off his father and got a travel agent in Shravasti, Uttar Pradesh, to book tickets for them. We have also booked the travel agent in the same case.
We verified Golekhan’s credentials and found out that he used to run a biryani stall in Virar near Mumbai before shifting to Chinchwad two years ago to run an eatery in Mohannagar. Golekhan has no criminal antecedents.” Golekhan’s father visited Pune a few days ago to meet and stay with him.
Later, he wished to return to their native place in UP. “Golekhan got the travel agent in Shravasti to book a Pune-Lucknow flight ticket for his father and another for himself,” Sankeshwari said, adding, “The agent sent him the tickets and the father-son duo reached the airport for the flight scheduled at 2.45am on Saturday.
” Golekhan showed the ticket and his Aadhaar card as ID at the entrance. “The airline found a mismatch in the PNR number, after which CISF personnel detained Golekhan. His father, whose ticket was genuine, was allowed to board the flight,” said the officer.
The CISF team later handed Golekhan over to the Airport police, who formally arrested him later in the day as well as booked the travel agent. “On Sunday, we produced Golekhan before a city court, which ordered his remand in police custody for two days,” the officer said. Sources in the airport confirmed the incident.
Choosing anonymity, an airport official told TOI, “A passenger with a valid ticket was set to board a flight from Pune to Lucknow. The person, who was caught, was with this senior citizen. The same ticket seemed to have been printed for both, with changes made in the PNR.
The airline concerned found the ticket to be fake. During entry, the CISF carefully checks the name of the passenger, flight number, date of flight etc. The name of the passenger is matched against any ID documents given.
The CISF personnel don’t have any way in which they can ascertain whether a PNR is valid or false. In this case, the PNR and some other details like name of passenger were also changed.” A CISF officer told TOI, “The airline alerted us about this man, after which we escorted him to local police.
” (Inputs by Joy Sengupta).
