Kamal Ghorui
BENGALURU: It’s a tale of two travellers with one ticket to London. Boarding pass to London secretly passed on to Singapore-bound passenger in airport loo. However, their UK plan fell flat, and both are now behind bars on charges of committing several violations at Kempegowda International Airport last week.A 52-year-old United Kingdom national has been arrested for handing over his boarding pass to a Sri Lankan national to help him fly illegally to London from KIA on Jan 18.
Kandiah Rajagopal, a businessman from West London, helped Lankan Sharusan Kunasekaran travel to London using his boarding pass in a story bristling with gaping holes. While Kandiah has been lodged in Bengaluru prison, Sharusan was detained in the UK and will soon be deported to Sri Lanka.A complaint filed by an immigration officer with KIA police Monday said Central Industrial Security Force personnel alerted immigration officials after Kandiah was found behaving suspiciously for nearly eight hours in the departure immigration section at Terminal 2 on Sunday.UK man handed over boarding pass to Sri Lankan in washroomHe was taken to the immigration section around 5.30pm for questioning. On checking his passport, the officers found Kandiah had arrived in India on a tourist visa and had visited several tourist destinations and pilgrimage spots in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.He had booked a ticket to London on Virgin Atlantic flight VS-347 which was to leave at 7.20am Sunday. However, he did not board the flight. Immigration officials verified the details of Kandiah’s boarding pass with Virgin Atlantic, which said another person had already travelled on Kandiah’s pass.Further verification said Lankan Sharusan had booked a ticket to Singapore on IndiGo flight 6E-1009, scheduled to depart at 10.20am the same day. He did not board his flight and was untraceable. Later, Kandiah was handed over to the KIA police.Police learned Sharusan and Kandiah were acquaintances. Kandiah reportedly wanted to help Sharusan fly to London. As Sharusan could not obtain a UK visa, Kandiah allegedly planned to help him land in London illegally. Both entered KIA Terminal 2 using their respective tickets and identity proofs on Sunday.After collecting boarding passes, they cleared CISF frisking and immigration separately. Later, they met inside a men’s washroom where Kandiah handed over his boarding pass to Sharusan.Kandiah stayed back at the airport and booked a ticket to Sri Lanka. He was found loitering in the security hold area for over eight hours while waiting for his flight. During questioning, Kandiah told police he is in the hotel business and has settled in London for 30 years. He stated that he was injured in a shootout in Trincomalee in Jan 2012. A case was registered against Kandiah under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025. He was remanded to judicial custody and sent to Bengaluru central prison.Based on information provided about Sharusan, immigration officials alerted their counterparts in London. The UK authorities have detained Sharusan and are in the process of deporting him to Sri Lanka.
