Mumbai: A 45-year-old teacher, holding OCI (Dual Citizenship) and residing in the USA, was apprehended at the city international airport for attempting to exit the premises after falsely claiming that his Paris flight ticket was cancelled. Airport security personnel grew suspicious upon discovering that the flight ticket from Mumbai to Paris, which the accused had used to enter the premises on Sunday, had already been cancelled on Nov 21, said officials of Sahar police station.
Upon questioning by a sub-inspector who escorted Terence Saldanha to a senior officer, the accused revealed that he had deliberately used the cancelled ticket to gain entry into the airport.”His actual purpose was to bid farewell to his girlfriend, who departed for the USA in the early hours of Sunday. He was taken into custody and charged with cheating and forgery. He claimed that he entered the airport to bid farewell to his girlfriend, Mariana Andrade, with the cancelled ticket,” said an officer of Sahar police station.
Saldanha, who had arrived a few days earlier to visit his relatives in Kalina, now faces legal consequences for his deceptive actions at the airport. The police said Salhanha entered the airport through gate 7 by showing a Mumbai-to-Paris ticket to the security staff on his mobile phone. However, he did not board the flight.
Air France staff apprehended him and handed him over to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel stating that his ticket had been cancelled and he wanted to exit the airport.
The CISF grew suspicious and conducted an inquiry, discovering that Saldanha had entered the airport using a cancelled ticket. When questioned, he presented the ticket on his mobile phone and admitted it had been cancelled by him on Nov 21. He had originally booked the ticket on Aug 29.
Saldanha confessed to entering the airport with the cancelled ticket. The police found his USA passport with him during the inquiry.
“Saldanha is a teacher in America and has been a resident of the USA for over 20 years. A few months ago, he arrived in India to visit his relatives who live in Kalina,” said a police officer.