Vizhinjam man held in fake passport case

Thiruvananthapuram: A 62-year-old man accused of sending a woman abroad using a forged passport was arrested by Vizhinjam police after surrendering before a court, following the rejection of his bail plea by Supreme Court.The accused, James Mercier of Thumba Pallithura, surrendered before Neyyattinkara court in connection with a 2022 case registered by Vizhinjam police. He was later remanded in judicial custody. According to police, Mercier had collected passports from a couple from Adimalathura, Vizhinjam, who were planning to travel abroad. While facilitating the husband's travel, he allegedly retained the wife's passport and used it to send another woman, identified as Jacqueline, also a native of Thumba, to Australia after replacing the original photograph. The fraud came to light after Jacqueline was detained abroad for travelling on a fake passport and subsequently deported to India. Based on a complaint received through Norka Roots, police registered a case and launched an investigation, which led to the identification of Mercier as the key accused. Police said the accused played a central role in orchestrating the passport tampering and illegal travel. Station house officer Reji Raj said Mercier would be taken into police custody for further interrogation. Investigators are also probing whether more people were involved in the racket and if similar instances of passport fraud were carried out using the same method. "The accused had approached courts from the lower judiciary up to the SC during this period to evade arrest. However, all legal remedies were exhausted, following which he was taken into custody. Further investigation is under way to ascertain his role and possible links to a larger network," officials said.
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