Nepali ‘Jetsetter’ Arrested over a Dozen Mauritius Trips with Fake Passports!

In a case that could give Bollywood or Di Caprio a run for their money, a Nepali citizen was finally apprehended at Mumbai airport after a series of adventures involving fake Indian passports and over a dozen trips to Mauritius.

Maniratna Bhandari, 50, who had apparently been working as a domestic help in Mauritius since 1997, was arrested in Mumbai trying to fly back to the island with a fake Indian passport he had been using for over 25 years.

According to the Times of India, Bhandari had perfected his act, making frequent trips to Mauritius without arousing suspicion.

In fact, he reportedly even managed to visit his native village in Nepal during the pandemic in 2019, cleverly bypassing immigration checks. 

“Once the lockdown was lifted, he cleared the immigration check in Mumbai and made his way back to Mauritius. It was a daring move, I must say,” a police officer was cited as explaining.

Bhandari’s misadventure came to an end when constable Sachin Tandel, on duty at the airport’s immigration check, brought Bhandari to the attention of the airport’s crack team, consisting of wing in-charge Rajkumar Verma, duty officer Abhishek Gaud, and passenger profile officer Ramavatar Mina.

It was then revealed that Bhandari was not only a Nepali citizen but also held a Mauritian ID card and driving license. 

During questioning, Bhandari spilled the beans on his extraordinary escapades. Apparently, he had first arrived in Mumbai in 1994 and found work at a hotel in Mahim. It was there that he met a customer who offered him a job as a domestic help in Mauritius.

In a stroke of fortune, Bhandari paid a mere Rs 3,000 to his hotel customer in November 1997, who kindly arranged a forged Indian passport for him. This shady document served him well for years until his recent capture.

The saga didn’t end there. In 2007, Bhandari managed to obtain an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, which he used frequently to travel between Mauritius and Mumbai.

He allegedly made several return trips to Mumbai, including visits in 2012, 2013, 2017, and his ill-fated final voyage in 2022. He even threw in a detour to Delhi in 2018 and a round trip to Kolkata in 2019, just to add some spice to his already audacious tale.

Bhandari has been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including cheating and forgery, as well as the Passport Act and Foreigners Act.

Source: Times of India