CHENNAI: A former member of the Sri Lankan parliament from a leading Tamil party there was arrested by the Q Branch of the Tamil Nadu police for allegedly obtaining an Indian passport using fake address proof documents.

Kulasingam Dhileeban, a former MP belonging to Sri Lanka's Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), has now been lodged in Puzhal Central Prison.

The arrest is linked to the 2019 case against some Sri Lankan nationals who allegedly submitted fake address proofs to obtain Indian passports from the Madurai Passport Office. As part of the investigation, a lookout notice was issued against Dhileeban at all airports.

When he landed at Cochin International Airport on February 11, the immigration officials apprehended him and handed him over to the Madurai Q Branch police.

The fake passport case had hit the headlines in 2019 after it emerged that as many as 60 Sri Lankans staying in one street managed to get Indian passports.

The then assistant commissioner (intelligence) of Madurai city police was charge sheeted in connection with the case.