An Indian national who was sent to Kuwait by a manpower broker using a fake Nepali passport has been arrested. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the Nepal Police nabbed Binita Chhetri of Kalimpong, Sikkim, on Wednesday. Binita, who went to Kuwait on January 10, was taken under control by the Kuwait-based Nepal Embassy along with her passport issued in the name Mana Maya Yonjan of Jhapa district.

The CIB arrested her from the Tribhuvan International Airport, according to DSP Om Adhikari. A preliminary police investigation has revealed that Yubraj Chhetri had sent Binita abroad replacing Yonjan’s photo with her’s in the latter’s passport. Yubraj might have sent at least five Indian nationals making fake Nepali passports, police said.According to the Kuwaiti law, one should be at least 21-year-old to get

work permit in the Gulf country. The broker, misusing Yonjan’s passport, managed to send Binita who is barely 16 years, according to police.

Police say the use of fake Nepali passports by Indian people living in border areas is on the rise. According to the Department of Immigration, 48 cases of the misuse of Nepali passports were found in 2010 and 95 cases last year alone.

Published on: 26 January 2012 | The Kathmandu Post