32 Year Old Caught in Delhi posing as 80 Year old to fly to New York

September 12, 2019

A 32-year-old man was detained at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport for carrying a fake passport while posing as a man more than 80 year old

It was an impressive disguise: the snow-white beard, the oversized glasses, the wheelchair.

But it was when the seemingly frail and elderly passenger reached security at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport -- India's busiest airport -- that he caught the attention of staff.

At around 10.45 p.m. on the evening of September 8, the individual was hoping to get on an overnight flight to New York.

"He posed as if he was very old and incapacitated," Shrikant Kishore, a senior official with the Central Industrial Security Force, told CNN.

Dressed in a white tunic and trousers, with a white turban and black slippers, the passenger proved reluctant to be frisked.

"Our screener asked the person in the wheelchair to stand. He said that he cannot stand. Our screener asked if he would stand with support. He reluctantly stood up."

That's when the officer noticed that while the passenger's beard and hair were white, the roots were black. He also was working hard to avoid the officer's eyes.