Woman tries to visit kin in SL after 45 yrs, held at airport for using fake passport

A 67-year-old Sri Lankan native woman, who got married and came to India in 1977 when she was just 19, was secured by the immigration officials when she tried to visit Sri Lanka after 45 years with an Indian passport on Friday.

The woman, Sarojini of Coimbatore, was detained and inquired by the sleuths from NIA as well as the Central Crime Branch of the city police on suspicion that she could have links with a woman with LTTE background who was arrested in October last year when she tried to fly using a fake passport. However, she was let off on bail since she did not have any antecedents of LTTE links and in consideration of her age.

When contacted, the Central Crime Branch police said Sarojini’s husband Ayyakannu was a native of Pudukottai and had returned from Sri Lanka with his parents and become Indian citizens. “Ayyakannu later got a job in the forest department and married Sarojini in 1977 in Sri Lanka before bringing her to Tamil Nadu,” said an officer from CCB.

Sarojini came to India on a tourist visa and stayed back with her husband in Coimbatore without changing her nationality. “Sarojini also has her roots in Pudukottai though her family settled in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Ayyakannu died a few years ago. While she eventually lost her passport, Sarojini wanted to visit Sri Lanka to attend a grandniece’s wedding and applied for a fresh passport claiming to be an Indian citizen. It is still an offence, but since there was no criminal motive behind her actions, she was let off on bail,” said the officer. Sarojini’s daughter also is said to be working in the forest department.