Scanner on foreigner over passport forgery

In December 2008,a complaint over a lottery scam was registered with the MRA Marg police,which handed over the case to the EOW for investigation. Four persons,including a 25-year-old direct sales agent,a street vendor,and two Nigerians were arrested for duping people of their money by floating fake lottery schemes. Lovetha Lucky Osazuwa (28),one among them,was sent to judicial custody also. Lawyer Anjali Patil representing Osazuwa at the sessions court submitted an application seeking bail in the first week of January. The court granted permission on condition that Osazuwa submit her passport to the investigating team and also submit a surety of Rs 15,000 to the court.

While the surety was submitted within the stipulated time,the official letter from lawyer Anjali Patil and the passport reached the EOW office only on March 26,2009. However,the EOW alleged that the lawyers submitted a passport bearing number A 3177109 and the photograph of Osazuwa was pasted in page number 27 of the passport with Indian Visa stickers and a fake stamp authenticating the entire page. Further,the passport informs that she reached India on October 24,2008.

On grounds of suspicion,the EOW contacted special branch of the Mumbai police to verify the details. The special branch forwarded the original immigration details of Osazuwa. According to the details,her original passport number is A 3974333 and her date of entering India is January 24,2006.

The EOW has now submitted the entire report to the sessions court. However,the court granted permission to EOW to register a second case against Osazuwa for forgery. The court has also rejected the bail surety and cancelled her bail. The EOW will now be calling the lawyer to understand how a forged passport was submitted without checking the details.

“There is a basic reponsibilty that a lawyer should have towards the investigation. The role of the lawyer should not only be to protect their client but also to ensure that they show an alertness while dealing with the investigation,” said a senior official of the EOW. He added,“The advocates come under the Advocates Act,1961,which clearly outlines the role of an advocate towards the investigation.”

When contacted by the Newsline,Anjali Patil said,“How am I supposed to know what is an original passport or a fake passport. I was asked by the court to submit the passport to the investigation team. The sister of the accused,Novetha,handed over a passport to me and I submitted the same. I had absolutely no idea that it was fake. I have been called by EOW tomorrow. I will go and give them the details,” said Anjali Patil.

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